1:  \\    •     ^  ^  ^ 

J  ,  

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PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


Purchased  by  the  Hamill  Missionary  Fund. 


DS  413   .H92  1905 
Humphrey,  James  Lorenzo, 

1829-  T 
Twenty-one  years  m  India 


Digitized  by 

the  Internet  Archive 

in  2015 

https://archive.org/details/twentyoneyearsinOOhump_0 


TWENTY- ONE  YEARS 
IN  INDIA 


REV.  J.  L.  HUMPHREY,  M.  D. 


CINCINNATI:  JENNINGS  AND  GRAHAM 
NEW   YORK:   EATON   AND  MAINS 


COPYRIGHT,  1905,  BY 
JENNINGS  AND  GRAHAM 


PREFACE. 


A  i^Ew  words  in  the  way  of  preface  may  not 
be  out  of  place.  I  am  aware  that  much  has  been 
written  about  India  late  years,  and  that  there  may 
not  seem  to  be  a  demand  for  another  book  on  that 
subject.  I  have  only  to  say,  that  much  remains 
unknown  still  to  our  people  here  at  home  about 
that  country  and  people,  and  about  the  great  work 
going  on  there.  It  fell  to  my  lot  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God  to  be  associated  with  the  work  of 
our  Church  there  in  its  very  beginning,  and  what 
1  have  written  may  be  of  some  value  farther  on 
when  the  history  of  our  Mission  in  India  is  writ- 
ten up.  I  have  seen  the  work  expand  from  its 
very  first  inception  to  the  great  proportions  it  has 
now  attained.  God  has  indeed  done  great  things 
for  us;  but  there  are  undoubtedly  greater  things 
in  store  for  us  in  the  future.  I  wish  to  record 
with  others  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  seen  in  com- 

3 


4 


Preface. 


mon  with  them.  Perhaps  something  here  men- 
tioned may  not  have  been  mentioned  by  others, 
and  so  may  contribute  to  the  general  fund  of 
knowledge  which  has  accumulated  as  the  years 
have  been  going  by.  I  feel  it,  indeed,  to  be  a 
very  great  honor  to  have  had  a  part  with  our 
noble  band  of  workers  for  Christ  in  India.  If 
what  I  have  written  shall  in  some  little  degree 
even  contribute  to  the  advancement  of  India's 
evangelization,  I  shall  feel  myself  amply  repaid. 

J.  L.  Humphrey. 

Little  Falls,  N.  Y. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    Introductory,  Topography,  Scenery,  the  Way 

People  Live,  Etc.,  ii 

II.    Appointed  a  Missionary  to  India,  Voyage  and 
Arrival  in  Calcutta,  and  Journey  to  Naini 

TAL,  22 

III.  The  Sepoy  Mutiny  of  1857,  the  Way  It  Began, 

and  What  Led  TO  It,  Etc.  ,    -      -      -      -  41 

IV.  Beginning  to  Open  Our  Work  in  Naini  Tal 

AND  Make  Our  Plans  for  Work  in  the 

Plains,   61 

V.    Opening  Work  in  Moradabad  and  Bareilly,    -  80 
VI.    Beginning  Preaching  in  the  City  of  Bareilly, 

and  Baptism  of  Our  First  Convert,       -  98 
VII.    First  Arrivals   From  Home,  and  Opening 

Work  in  Budaon,   117 

VIII.    Return  to  Bareilly  and  Removal  to  Shah- 

jehanpore,   141 

IX.    Removal  to  Moradabad  and  Furlough  Home,  -  159 

X.    Medical  Work,  Etc.,   175 

XI.    Our  Work  in  the  Mountains,  -      -      -      -  189 

XII.    Naini  Tal,  Pithoragarh,  and  the  Tarai,   -  205 

XIII.    The  Hindu  People,   223 

5 


6 


Contents. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIV.    The  Mohammedans  of  India,        -      -      -  233 
XV.    Again  Pastor  at  Naini  Tal  English  Church,  -  245 

XVI.    A  Call  to  This  Work,  258 

XVII.  History  and  Progress  of  Missionary  Work  in 
India,  With  Statement  of  Results,  Both 
of  Our  Own  Church  Work  and  of  the 
Work  as  a  Whole  as  Seen  by  the  Last 
Census  in  1901,       -      .      -      -      -      -  268 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

1.  View  of  Naini  Tal,  Our  Oldest  Mission  Station,  Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

2.  Joel  Janvier,  a  Native  Minister  Given  to  Dr.  Butler  by 
the  Presbyterian  Mission  in  Allahabad,  Blind  and  in 

His  Old  Age,  -31 

3.  Memorial  Well,  Cawnpore,  Into  Which  the  Dead  and 
Dying  Women  and  Children  Were  Cast  Who  Were 
Massacred  by  the  Order  of  Nanni  Sahib  in  the  Mutiny 

of  1857,  56 

4.  Zhur  Ul  Haqq,  Our  First  Baptized  Convert  and  First 
Native  Presiding  Elder,       -       -       -       -       -       -  112 

5.  Sir  William  Muir  and  Sir  Henry  Ramsay       -       -       -  183 

6.  Medical  Class.  About  the  First  Women  Educated  in 
Medicine,  187 

7.  Isa  Das  and  Family.  A  Brahmin  Baptized  in  1870  in 
Haldwani,  193 

8.  English  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,    -       .       .       .  207 

9.  Wellesley  Girls'  High  School,  209 

10.  Oak  Openings  Boy*'  High  School,        -       -       -       -  210 

11.  A  Class  of  Christian  Girls,  and  Rebecca,  Their  Teacher, 
Another  Member  of  the  Medical  Class,  and  Who  was 
Miss  Dr.  Swain's  Assistant  in  the  Woman's  Hospital 

in  Bareilly  for  Many  Years,         .....  232 

12.  Bareilly  Theological  Seminary  Faculty,  ...       -  281 


7 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


CHAPTER  T. 


Introductory  Chapter. 

India  is  a  very  interesting  country;  but  few 
who  have  not  visited  it,  or  lived  in  it,  can  realize 
how  interesting  it  really  is. 

In  past  ages  it  has  been  thought  of  as  a  verita- 
ble El  Dorado  or  a  kind  of  fairy  land,  possessing 
fabulous  wealth.  Solomon's  ships  visited  India, 
and  brought  back  gold,  precious  stones,  and  pea- 
cocks' feathers.  Christopher  Columbus  aspired  to 
find  a  Western  pasage  to  India;  but  instead  he 
discovered  this  continent,  and  opened  up  a  new 
world.  He  thought  it  was  India,  as  he  called  the 
people  he  found  here  Indians. 

The  country  is  about  i,8oo  miles  at  its  ex- 
treme points  from  north  to  south,  and  about  1,500 
miles  from  east  to  west,  not  including  Burmah. 
It  contains  a  superficial  area  of  1,860,000  square 

II 


12         Twenty-one;  Years  in  India. 


miles.  In  1901,  when  the  last  census  was  taken, 
the  population  was  294,382,676,  nearly  one-fifth 
of  the  population  of  the  entire  world.  The  great 
mass  of  the  people  are  very  poor.  The  wage 
of  a  common  laborer  is  not  more  than  two  dol- 
lars a  month,  he  finding  himself.  The  popula- 
tion, under  the  paternal  care  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernment is  increasing,  and  one  of  the  great  prob- 
lems confronting  the  Government  is  how  to  im- 
prove the  condition  of  the  great  wage-earning 
class  of  the  population. 

The  Secretary  of  State  for  India,  Lord 
George  Hamilton,  recently  said  in  Parliament, 
"That  so  far  as  eighty-three  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation was  concerned,  there  was  a  clear  and  in- 
disputable evidence  that  their  condition  during 
the  last  twenty  years  had  improved."  He  also 
stated,  "That  the  Viceroy,  Lord  Curzon,  has  re- 
cently taken  the  greatest  pains  to  ascertain  what 
the  average  income  per  head  of  the  agricultural 
population  now  is,  contrasted  with  twenty  years 
ago;  and  he  finds  that  in  1880  it  was  rupees  18 
per  head;  in  1900,  notwithstanding  the  increase 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  13 

in  the  population,  it  was  rupees  20  per  head,  not 
a  great  increase,  but  still  an  advance.  During 
that  period  the  income  per  head  of  the  non-agri- 
cultural population  is  estimated  to  have  risen  from 
rupees  27  to  rupees  30.  The  total  of  land  under 
cultivation  in  1880  was  194,000,000  of  acres;  it 
is  now  217,000,000  of  acres.  In  the  yield  per 
acre  we  see  a  marked  increase;  in  1880  the  yield 
of  food  crops  per  acre  was  730  pounds,  in  1900 
it  was  840  pounds." 

Sir  William  Hunter,  in  his  work  "Our  Indian 
Empire,"  says  that  not  much  more  than  four  per 
cent  of  the  people  live  in  the  cities  and  larger 
towns,  showing  that  the  population  of  India  is 
largely  rural,  and  as  a  whole  very  poor;  but  there 
is  actual  improvemait  in  their  condition,  as  these 
figures  show. 

The  country  is  crossed  from  east  to  west  be- 
tween the  twenty-third  and  twenty-fifth  parallels 
of  latitude,  by  the  Vindiya  range  of  mountains, 
at  the  base  of  which  flows  the  Nerbudda  River. 
The  country  to  the  north  is  usually  called  Hin- 
dustan, and  that  to  the  south  is  the  Deccan.  Stan 


14        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

means  place,  Hindustan,  therefore,  means  place 
or  country  of  the  Hindus. 

Two  great  rivers  take  their  rise  in  the  Hima- 
layan range  of  mountains,  and  have  much  to  do 
in  fixing  the  general  outlines  and  topography  of 
the  country  to  the  north,  or  Hindustan  proper. 
One  of  these,  the  Ganges,  flows  from  the  moun- 
tain range  on  the  north  to  the  southeast  and 
empties  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal;  the  other,  the 
Indus,  flows  to  the  southwest  and  empties  into 
the  Arabian  Sea,  or  Persian  Gulf,  at  Karachee. 
These  magnificent  rivers  drain  and  irrigate  nearly 
one-half  of  the  entire  country. 

The  great  Gangetic  Plain  stretches  away  from 
Calcutta  to  the  northwest  to  Peshawar  on  the 
Indus,  1, 800  miles,  while  the  Indus  extends  away 
to  the  southwest  to  the  Arabian  Sea. 

These  plains  are,  on  an  average,  three  hundred 
miles  in  width,  and  they  constitute  the  garden  of 
India.  On  the  north  we  have  the  grand  Hima- 
layan chain  of  mountains,  with  the  snowy  range 
towering  up  in  the  heavens  and  sparkling  in  the 
sunlight  with  indescribable  beauty.    In  the  cold 


Twi;nTy-one  Ydars  in  India.  15 

season  as  you  journey  to  the  Northwest  on  the 
Grand  Trunk  Road,  a  metaled  road  all  the  way 
from  Calcutta  to  Peshawur,  1,800  miles,  without 
doubt  the  finest  road  in  the  world,  or  by  railway, 
this  snowy  range  may  be  seen  for  hundreds  of 
miles  of  the  journey.  This  vast  plain  continues 
practically  up  to  the  base  of  the  mountains,  hav- 
ing only  a  slight  ascent  for  a  few  miles  before 
reaching  the  mountains  proper,  and  so  gradual 
is  the  ascent  that  it  is  hardly  noticeable  to  the 
ordinary  observer.  There  is  not  much  hilly  or 
rolling  country  through  which  you  pass  as  you 
approach  the  range  itself.  At  the  foot  of  the 
mountains  is  a  strip  of  country  slightly  declining 
towards  the  plains,  called  the  Bhaber,  or  waterless 
forest,  as  the  word  means ;  that  is,  water  can  not 
be  reached  by  digging  wells.  The  Bhaber  is  from 
ten  to  fifteen  miles  in  width;  then  we  strike  the 
Tarai,  where  the  water  is  very  near  the  surface, 
and  is  covered  with  tall  grass  and  more  or  less 
with  forests. 

This  section  is  very  malarious  during  the 
rainy  season  and  for  some  months  afterward. 


i6         TwDNTY-ONE  Years  ix  India. 

Many  wild  animals  inhabit  this  region,  such  as 
bears,  leopards,  tigers,  and  even  wild  elephants 
are  found  here.  The  great  thoroughfares  from 
the  seaports  to  the  northwest,  pass  through  these 
plains.  It  may  be  imagined  that  they  are  monoto- 
nous to  the  traveler;  but  such  is  not  the  case, 
however. 

The  landscape  is  usually  attractive,  and  often 
especially  so  during  the  cold  season  when  travel- 
ers visit  India.  The  palm  tree  with  its  feathery 
top  and  unique  leaves  and  branches,  dots  the  ex- 
panse and  constantly  reminds  you  that  you  are  in 
a  tropical  land — a  land  strangely  unlike  your 
own.  The  great  Gangetic  Valley  is  for  the  most 
part  highly  cultivated  and  densely  populated. 

In  Upper  India  you  will  see  vast  fields  of 
wheat,  rice,  millet,  dal,  gram,  potatoes,  sugar- 
cane, and  tobacco,  and  many  other  purely  Indian 
cereals.  In  some  parts  you  find  indigo,  poppies, 
and  cotton  being  cultivated  to  a  large  extent.  Po- 
tatoes, late  years,  are  being  cultivated  extensively 
both  in  the  mountains  and  plains.  At  the  foot  of 
the  mountains,  in  the  locality  I  have  spoken  of  as 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  17 

the  Bhaber,  large  fields  of  mustard  may  be  seen  in 
the  proper  season,  and  the  air  will  be  scented 
with  the  perfume  of  its  bright  yellow  flowers  for 
a  long  distance.  Mustard-seed  yields  a  kind  of 
oil  extensively  used  and  very  highly  valued  by 
the  natives.  Wheat  is  much  grown,  especially  in 
the  Northwest.  The  landscape  is  much  broken 
by  numerous  groves  of  mango,  tamarind,  pepul, 
and  orange  trees.  These  groves  are  usually  con- 
tiguous to  the  villages  and  cities,  and,  being  set 
out  with  regularity,  they  add  much  to  the  beauty 
of  the  country,  and  serve  to  break  vip  what  would 
otherwise  be  very  tame  and  monotonous. 

There  are  no  homes  scattered  about  over  the 
country  as  with  us.  The  people  live  in  cities  or 
villages.  In  the  villages  the  houses  are  squalid 
and  uninviting.  The  walls  are  of  mud  and  cov- 
ered with  grass,  without  windows,  or  floors, 
other  than  the  earth  itself.  There  is  not  much 
order  in  the  location  of  houses  in  a  village.  A 
village  is  simply  a  collection  of  miserable  mud 
huts,  thrown  in  about  as  it  happens;  the  streets 

have  to  take  their  chances,  winding  about,  and 
7. 


i8 


TwExTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia. 


finding  a  passage  through  if  possible.  As  a  rule 
they  are  filthy  and  sadly  lacking  in  all  sanitary 
arrangements.  They  are  likely  to  abound  with 
ill-kept  dogs,  goats,  cattle,  and  naked  children. 
You  will  not  often  see  swine  about,  as  they  are 
only  kept  by  the  very  lowest  class  of  the  people, 
and  not  by  the  Hindus  or  Mohammedans  at  all. 

In  the  cities  the  buildings  are  superior  to  those 
in  villages.  Generally,  the}-  are  built  of  brick  and 
covered  with  tiles  or  cement.  The  houses  are 
not  arranged  at  all  according  to  our  ideas  of  con- 
venience and  comfort.  The  rooms  are  generally 
small,  low  between  joints,  without  windows,  ill 
ventilated,  and  quite  without  all  furnishings,  ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  the  ver)'  well-to-do. 

A  small  piece  of  matting  serves  in  place  of  a 
chair  and  for  a  bed.  They  do  not  have  chairs  or 
tables  in  their  houses.  They  sleep,  sit,  and  take 
their  meals  on  the  floor  or  ground. 

They  have  no  knives,  forks,  or  spoons;  but 
make  their  fingers  do  service  in  place  of  these. 
A  house  is  not  to  them  what  it  is  to  us  in  our 
cold  climate.    The  most  of  the  year  it  is  very 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  19 


warm,  and  at  no  time  is  the  cold  excessive,  and 
for  the  largest  part  of  the  year  it  is  uniformly 
pleasant,  no  storms,  night  or  day,  for  weeks  and 
months  even,  so  they  live  much  in  the  open  air. 
They  wear  light  clothing;  the  poorer  people 
clothe  themselves  very  scantily. 

I  have  now  described  Upper  India,  or  Hindu- 
stan proper.  I  have  mentioned  its  two  great 
plains,  that  of  the  Ganges  and  Indus.  Much  of 
India  is  a  vast  plain.  We  have,  in  addition  to 
these  plains,  the  great  sandy  desert  on  the  west, 
and  an  elevated  tract  called  Central  India.  The 
Deccan,  or  South  India,  has  a  chain  of  mountains 
on  its  northern  boundary  running  nearly  parallel 
with  the  Vindiya  range,  to  the  south  of  which 
stretches  a  table-land  of  triangular  form,  termi- 
nating at  Cape  Comorin  with  the  W  estern 
Ghauts  on  the  opposite  coast.  Between  the 
Ghauts  and  the  sea  lies  a  narrow  belt  of  land 
which  runs  around  the  whole  peninsula. 

The  soil  is  generally  productive,  only  requir 
ing  water  to  produce  good  crops.    Indeed  every- 
thing grows  with  great  luxuriance  in  India  when 


20         TwExTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia. 

the  rainfall  is  normal.  When  the  fall  is  less  than 
normal  the  price  of  grain  rises  in  the  market,  and 
the  people  begin  to  feel  the  pressure  of  want.  It 
the  rainfall  is  materially  lessened,  and  this  con- 
tinues for  two  or  three  seasons  in  succession,  it 
produces  famine  with  all  its  attendant  horrors. 

From  time  immemorial  the  country'  has  been 
subject  to  these  calamities.  To  obviate  them,  or 
to  lessen  their  influence,  an  extensive  system  of 
irrigation  has  been  carried  out  by  the  Govern- 
ment, at  an  immense  outlay,  and  by  this  means 
a  considerable  part  of  the  countrj'  is  protected 
from  this  calamity.  In  1900  there  were  180,- 
1 50,454  acres  of  land  cultivated ;  31,544,000  were 
rendered  safe  from  drought  by  irrigation.  \\*e 
now  have  over  27,000  miles  of  railway  spread 
over  the  country.  These,  too,  are  a  great  protec- 
tion from  the  evils  of  famine,  as  by  means  of 
them  the  surplus  production  of  one  part  of  the 
countr)'  can  be  rapidly  removed  to  another  part 
in  a  time  of  emergency. 

There  is  a  large  amount  of  wheat  grown  in 
some  parts  of  the  country ;  about  thirteen  bushels 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  in  India. 


21 


to  the  acre  would  be  regarded  a  fair  yield.  The 
exports  of  India  in  1900  were  77,950,000  pounds 
sterling,  $399,750,000.  Imports  were  61,1 13,000 
sterling,  or  $355,565,000.  The  Government  of 
India  is  a  very  paternal  government,  and  in  every 
way  in  its  power  seeks  to  improve  the  condition 
of  the  people. 

There  are  three  seasons  in  India,  the  hot  and 
rainy  season,  which  begins  about  tlie  middle  of 
June  and  continues  until  the  middle  or  end  of 
September.  Then  begins  the  cold  season,  which 
up  country  is  almost  uniformly  pleasant  and  de- 
lightful. The  hot  season  begins  in  March  or 
early  in  April  and  continues  until  the  rains  set  in, 
in  June  or  July.  It  is  extremely  hot  during  this 
season.  The  heat  is  somewhat  modified  by  the 
rainfall,  but  the  humidity  of  the  atmosphere 
makes  the  heat  even  more  trying  to  many,  than 
the  hot  season  proper. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Appointed  a  Missionary  to  India,  Voyage,  and 
Arrival  in  Calcutta. 

In  1854,  Dr.  Durbin,  Secretary  of  our  Mis- 
sionary Society,  published  a  call  for  two  young 
men  to  go  out  to  India.  It  was  felt  that  the  time 
had  arrived  when  we  as  a  Church  should  enter 
upon  this  work  in  that  country.  It  was  then 
thought  that  they  would  be  desired  to  go  out  the 
following  year.  I  had  been  deeply  interested  in 
this  subject,  for  some  time  felt  that  God  had 
called  me  to  this  work.  After  much  deliberation 
I  responded  to  this  call  and  signified  my  willing- 
ness to  go  if  needed.  I  heard  nothing  from  this 
until  September,  1856,  when  Bishop  Simpson 
notified  me  that  I  was  accepted  for  India,  and 
would  be  expected  to  sail  in  May  or  June  fol- 
lowing. I  was  stationed  at  Malone,  in  Northern 
New  York,  at  the  time,  and  this  arrangement 
would  enable  me  to  finish  out  my  year  before 

22 


Twe;nty-one  Years  in  India.  23 


leaving.  A  few  months  before  the  Rev.  WilHani 
Butler,  of  the  New  England  Conference,  had  been 
appointed  superintendent,  and  had  gone  out  by 
the  way  of  England  to  visit  friends,  and  to  con- 
sult with  missionary  secretaries  and  friends  there 
as  to  the  portion  of  India  it  would  be  best  for 
us  to  occupy.  He  arrived  in  Calcutta  about  the 
time  I  received  my  appointment,  and  after  most 
careful  consideration  and  consultation  with  mis- 
sionary friends  and  secretaries,  he  resolved  to  lo- 
cate in  Bareilly,  the  capital  of  the  Province  of 
Rohilcund,  in  the  Northwest.  It  was  in  his  plan 
to  occupy  Oudh,  to  the  east  of  Rohilcund,  and 
probably  would  have  settled  in  Lucknow,  the  cap- 
ital of  Oudh,  if  he  could  have  procured  a  resi- 
dence there;  but  failing  in  this  he  located  in 
Bareilly  in  January,  1857.  Rev.  Ralph  Pierce,  of 
Moira,  N.  Y.,  had  received  his  appointment  to 
India  some  months  before  I  received  mine.  His 
wife  was  an  adopted  daughter  of  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
J.  T.  Peck,  afterward  Bishop  Peck.  I  left  Ma- 
lone  on  the  24th  day  of  May,  and  after  a  few 
days  in  New  York,  we  all,  accompanied  by  Dr. 


24         Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


and  Mrs.  Peck,  Dr.  Durbin,  and  Rev.  D.  Terry, 
went  to  Boston,  where  farewell  services  were 
held  on  Sunday.  On  that  very  day  the  mutiny 
occurred  in  Bareilly.  On  Monday  we  sailed,  our 
party  consisting  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pierce  and  their 
little  babe;  Mrs.  Owens,  wife  of  Dr.  Owens,  of 
the  Presbyterian  Mission  of  Allahabad;  Mrs. 
Humphrey,  and  myself.  Our  voyage,  though 
long  and  tedious,  was  on  the  whole  a  pleasant 
one,  and  we  improved  our  time  in  the  study  of 
the  language,  and,  with  jVIrs.  Owen  to  direct  us, 
we  succeeded  in  laying  a  good  foundation,  which 
was  a  very  great  help  to  us  after  our  arrival  in 
Calcutta.  We  learned  the  alphabet,  read  and 
translated  several  of  the  first  chapters  of  Mat- 
thew's Gospel.  A  very  pleasant  incident  occurred 
when  we  were  about  twenty  degrees  south  of  the 
Equator.  We  sighted  a  ship  from  Liverpool, 
bound  to  Australia ;  the  day  was  fine,  and  the  sea 
fairly  smooth,  and  we  came  near  enough  to  com- 
municate by  signals.  The  captain  of  the  English 
ship  invited  our  captain  to  take  his  passengers  and 
come  on  board  their  ship  and  dine  with  them. 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  25 

Upon  our  concurrence,  he  accepted  the  invitation, 
and  we  had  a  most  enjoyable  time.  They  had  a 
large  number  of  passengers,  and  it  did  not  take 
us  long  to  become  acquainted.  We  learned  that 
they  were  from  Liverpool,  and  left  about  the  same 
time  we  left  Boston,  so  we  did  not  have  much 
news  to  communicate  to  them,  nor  they  much  to 
give  us;  but  we  had  many  things  to  talk  about, 
so  the  two  hours  we  passed  on  board  their  ship 
flew  by  very  quickly,  and  the  memory  of  them  re- 
mained with  us  for  many  a  day.  Some  of  the 
passengers  we  met  that  day  on  the  Southern 
Cross,  the  name  of  their  ship,  wrote  to  us  in 
India,  and  for  some  years  we  maintained  a  very 
pleasant  correspondence.  Our  course  lay  about 
four  hundred  miles  south  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and,  it  being  winter  on  that  side  of  the 
Equator,  it  was  very  rough  and  cold.  Westerly 
winds  prevailed  in  that  latitude  at  that  season  of 
the  year,  and  we  were  rapidly  swept  eastward  on 
our  course  until  we  sighted  the  little  island  of 
St.  Paul's,  which  was  our  signal  to  turn  to  the 
north  up  towards  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 


26        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


On  the  17th  of  September  we  sighted  the 
lightship,  as  we  supposed,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Hooghly  River,  where  we  expected  to  get  a  pilot 
to  take  us  up  the  river  a  little  more  than  a  hun- 
dred miles  to  Calcutta.  We  arrived  in  the  night 
and  cast  anchor  to  wait  for  the  morning.  We 
could  not  get  our  pilot  until  morning,  this  we 
knew.  Then  we  learned  that  bad  news  awaited 
us,  but  we  could  not  find  out  what  it  was.  We 
also  found  that  we  had  gone  to  the  wrong  light- 
ship. The  one  we  wished  to  get  was  about  forty 
miles  away.  It  took  us  nearly  all  the  next  day 
to  find  out  this  much,  and  as  the  hours  passed  by 
we  found  that  our  anchor  did  not  hold  the  ship, 
and  we  were  surely  drifting  on  to  the  sand-banks, 
and  that  we  were  already  in  a  very  dangerous 
proximity  to  them.  We  knew  that  many  ships 
have  been  wrecked  in  this  locality  by  being  driven 
on  the  banks  by  the  force  of  the  current,  and 
then  capsizing.  At  one  time  it  seemed  that  surely 
this  would  be  our  fate,  but  in  the  last  moment, 
as  it  seemed  to  us,  a  breeze  sprang  up  that  filled 
our  sails  and  took  us  out  of  our  perilous  position. 


Twenty-one  Years  ix  India.  27 

In  a  few  hours  we  were  at  the  proper  place,  and 
we  again  cast  anchor  and  waited  for  the  morn- 
ing. With  the  dawn  a  pilot  came  aboard  to  take 
us  up  to  Calcutta.  The  first  thing  he  said,  as  he 
stepped  onto  our  deck,  was,  "\\'ell,  I  suppose  you 
have  heard  the  news?"  "How  should  you  sup- 
pose so  ?"  our  captain  replied ;  "we  have  not  seen 
a  ship  for  more  than  two  months."  The  pilot 
replied,  "The  country  is  in  a  turmoil,  lots  of  mas- 
sacres, ever}'body  killed  up  countn*- ;  but  here  are 
the  papers  that  will  tell  you  all  about  it."  With 
what  eagerness  we  seized  those  papers !  From 
them  we  learned  of  the  mutiny  in  Bareilly,  and 
that  Mr.  Butler  had  probably  escaped  to  Xaini 
Tal,  a  hill  sanitarium  in  the  mountains,  about 
seventy  miles  to  the  north  of  Bareilly. 

Mrs.  Owen  read  of  the  outbreak  in  Allahabad, 
and  of  the  destruction  of  the  ^Mission  premises, 
including  her  own  home,  but  she  could  get  no  in- 
formation in  regard  to  her  husband.  Her  state 
of  mind  can  be  imagined.  Our  progress  up  the 
river  was  slow,  as  our  captain  determined  not  to 
pay  the  price  demanded  for  a  steam  tug  to  take  us 


28         TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia. 


up.  but  to  depend  upon  the  wind  and  tide  when 
they  were  favorable,  anchoring  when  they  were 
adverse.  On  the  evening  of  the  2i5t  of  Septem- 
ber we  cast  anchor  ofif  Garden  Reach,  just  oppo- 
site the  ex-king  of  Oudh's  palace,  about  four 
miles  below  our  proper  moorings  off  the  Strand 
at  Calcutta.  Here  we  had  our  first  experience  of 
the  India  climate,  and  of  Calcutta  mosquitos. 
It  was  intensely  hot,  and  the  mosquitoes,  like 
the  sepoys,  thirsted  for  blood.  It  was  a  dreadful 
night,  but,  as  all  such  nights  do,  it  ended  at  last. 
We  had  letters  of  introduction  to  ^lessrs.  Stewart 
&  Young,  merchants  from  Glasgow,  who  had 
shown  Mr.  Butler  much  kindness,  and  with  whom 
he  was  in  communication  as  far  as  was  possible 
in  those  days.  In  course  of  the  day  they  came 
on  board  and  took  us  to  their  home  for  dinner, 
and  then  to  a  home  they  had  secured  and  fur- 
nished for  us.  They  knew  it  would  be  some 
months  before  we  could  proceed  up  country,  and 
it  was  out  of  the  question  to  find  a  boarding- 
house  for  us,  so  they  rented  a  comfortable  house 
and  furnished  it  with  necessary  furniture,  and 


Twenty-one  Years  ix  India. 


29 


put  one  of  their  own  tried  and  trusted  servants 
in  charge  of  it.  In  the  evening  they  joined  us  in 
our  home  at  tea.  Their  kindness  to  us  during 
our  stay  in  Calcutta,  and  for  years  afterward, 
we  can  never  forget.  They  were  noble  men,  and 
very  dear  friends  as  long  as  they  lived,  but  they 
have  both  been  dead  for  many  years. 

Our  detention  in  Calcutta  was  a  trial  to  us, 
but  we  could  only  make  the  best  of  it  and  wait 
patiently  for  the  Lord  to  show  us  our  way.  It 
was  a  time  of  great  excitement  in  Calcutta  when 
we  landed.  A  plot  had  just  been  discovered  to 
murder  all  the  foreign  residents.  A  native  prince 
then  visiting  Calcutta,  had  arranged  to  give  a 
great  entertainment  in  Botanical  Gardens,  which 
are  about  four  miles  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  but  a  heavy  rain  came  on  and  prevented 
the  people  from  going.  Before  the  day  ended  it 
was  learned  that  the  sepoys  had  arranged  to  take 
advantage  of  the  absence  of  the  officers  and  resi- 
dents, and  mutiny  and  seize  the  fort  and  the  mint, 
but  the  rain  broke  up  all  their  plans.  The  native 
regiments  implicated  were  immediately  disarmed. 


30        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

They  were  only  permitted  to  carry  their  ramrods 
after  that  day.  The  king  of  Oudh  had  a  few  days 
before  been  locked  up  in  the  fort  for  fear  of  a 
movement  among  the  natives  for  his  restoration. 
There  were  many  bad  elements  at  work,  and  no 
one  knew  what  might  happen  any  hour. 

We  received  much  attention  and  kindness 
from  missionaries  and  Christian  friends.  Mr. 
Buller  had  created  a  very  favorable  impression  in 
Calcutta,  and  much  interest  was  manifested  in 
our  proposed  mission,  and  we  were  told  that  our 
progress  would  be  watched  with  interest,  and 
that  it  was  hoped  that  the  remarkable  progress 
of  our  Church  in  the  United  States  might  even 
be  surpassed  in  India.  We  were  informed  that 
great  things  were  expected  of  our  Church  in  In- 
dia. We  immediately  began  the  study  of  the  lan- 
guage under  a  competent  native  teacher,  and 
made  as  good  use  of  our  opportunities  as  we 
could  to  become  acquainted  with  mission  work 
as  it  was  being  conducted  in  Calcutta  at  that 
time.  It  was  a  time  of  anxiety ;  indeed,  it  was 
about  the  darkest  period  of  the  mutiny  when  we 


JOEL  JANVIER,  BLIND  AND  AGED. 

(Nntivc  ,\lini'it<;r,  fmm  the  Presbyterian  Mission  in  Allahiiba. 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  31 

arrived.  The  first  English  soldiers  landed  about 
the  same  time  we  did ;  those  who  had  been  inter- 
cepted by  Lord  Canning  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  who  were  on  their  way  to  China,  just  at 
that  time;  but  things  had  begun  to  brighten  a 
little.  Already  an  avenging  army  was  on  the  way 
to  the  Northwest,  and  arrangements  were  rapidly 
being  made  for  another  to  follow,  and  the  cheer- 
ing news  had  just  arrived  that  Delhi  had  fallen, 
and  all  were  hoping  that  the  worst  was  past,  and 
so  it  proved.  At  the  suggestion  of  our  friend, 
Mr.  Owen,  we  engaged  Caleb,  a  young  man  of 
their  Mission  in  Allahabad,  as  our  teacher,  whom 
we  found  well  qualified  for  the  position.  He  was 
a  native  Christian,  and  a  special  friend  of  Joel, 
who  had  been  given  to  Mr.  Butler  as  his  assist- 
ant, by  our  Presbyterian  brethren  in  Allahabad. 
Joel  was  with  Mr.  Butler  in  Bareilly,  and  was 
there  when  the  mutiny  broke  out  on  the  31st  of 
May,  1857.  He  escaped  by  climbing  a  tree  near 
by,  when  the  sepoys  came  and  burned  Mr.  But- 
ler's house,  and  Maria  was  killed  by  them.  It 
can  well  be  imagined  that  we  were  interested  in 


32         Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

every  thing  pertaining  to  Joel,  and  it  was  very- 
pleasing  to  us  to  have  Caleb,  his  friend,  for  our 
teacher.  Under  his  instruction  we  made  rapid 
progress,  greatly  to  our  advantage  when,  a  few 
months  later,  we  came  to  make  the  journey  up 
country.  The  acquisition  of  the  language  is  of 
the  greatest  importance  to  a  missionary,  and  he 
can  never  do  it  so  well  as  when  he  first  arrives 
in  the  country.  If  he  puts  it  off,  instead  of  grow- 
ing less  formidable  it  will  become  more  so,  and 
the  probabilities  are  that  he  will  never  master  it. 
I  have  often  been  asked  if  it  is  a  difficult  lan- 
guage to  learn.  I  should  say,  not  especially  so; 
but  it  has  some  peculiarities  that  are  only  mas- 
tered by  long  study  and  practice.  But  most  suc- 
ceed, at  least  fairly  well,  who  are  determined  to 
do  it.  We  found  that  our  detention  in  Calcutta 
need  by  no  means  be  lost  time ;  it  gave  us  the  op- 
portunity to  become  somewhat  acquainted  with 
the  situation,  greatly  to  our  advantage  in  after 
years.  We  knew  very  little  of  India  when  we 
landed  in  Calcutta,  and  we  devoted  our  best  ef- 
forts to  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  people,  the 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  33 


country,  and  the  work  we  were  entering  upon. 
How  strange  everything  seemed  when  we  first 
landed !  The  people  seemed  especially  so ;  some 
were  dressed,  but  more  were  only  very  slightly 
so,  to  say  the  least.  Strange  sights  were  on  every 
hand,  and  a  jargon  of  sounds  fell  upon  our  ears. 
It  seemed  a  new  world  to  us,  so  very  unlike  any- 
thing we  had  e\'er  seen  before  or  imagined.  Cal- 
cutta at  that  time  presented  strange  contrasts  of 
wealth  and  poverty,  refinement  and  ignorance,  of 
grandeur  and  squalor.  These  contrasts  are  still 
seen  there,  as  they  are  in  all  large  cities,  especially 
in  the  East.  It  is,  however,  much  improved  from 
what  it  was  at  that  time.  It  is  now  a  fine  city; 
it  has  many  splendid  public  buildings  and  pala- 
tial private  residences.  The  scene  that  presents 
itself  on  the  Strand  of  an  evening  is  one  of  great 
magnificence.  On  one  side  are  the  ships  of  all 
nations  at  anchor;  on  the  other,  the  ]\Iaidan,  or 
parade  ground,  with  a  line  of  fine  business  and 
private  residences  in  the  background,  and  the  city 
lying  farther  back.  Such  a  display  of  fine  equi- 
pages as  may  be  seen  passing  up  and  down  at 
3 


34 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  in  India. 


about  sundown,  or  a  little  after,  can  hardly  be 
seen  anywhere  in  the  world.  The  turnouts  of 
wealthy  natives,  and  the  native  princes  with  their 
high-bred  Arab  horses  and  livery-men  in  most 
gorgeous  colors,  present  a  most  brilliant  and 
showy  scene  indeed. 

We  derived  great  pleasure  and  profit  from 
our  intercourse  with  missionaries  of  different 
Churches.  Among  them  I  may  mention  such  men 
as  Dr.  Dufif,  ]\Ir.  Lacroix,  and  Mullins,  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  and  many  others. 
We  visited  the  schools  and  colleges  being  con- 
ducted by  missionaries  in  Calcutta,  and  also  vis- 
ited Christian  villages  and  out-stations  in  the 
country  round  about  ;  learned  many  things  as  to 
methods  of  mission  work,  that  served  us  well  in 
following  years.  \Vc  also  took  some  lessons  in 
street  preaching  at  this  time.  The  missionaries 
were  somewhat  divided  on  the  subject.  Dr.  Duff 
was  a  strenuous  ad\ocate  of  education  as  a 
means  of  evangelization ;  but  from  the  first  it 
seemed  clear  to  me  that  both  were  to  be  utilized 
to  the  fullest  extent.  And  this  was  the  view 
adopted  by  our  Mission  from  the  first.  So  far  as 


TwENTY-ONK  Years  in  India. 


35 


I  know,  we  have  never  had  the  shghtest  discus- 
sion as  to  preference  of  one  of  these  over  the 
other.  We  believe  in  both  with  all  our  hearts.  I 
think  at  the  present  day  nearly  all  missionaries 
do  the  same. 

The  Calcutta  Missionary  Conference  was  a 
great  power  in  those  days.  This  body  did  much 
in  helping  to  shape  the  action  of  Government  on 
many  important  subjects  affecting  the  interest  of 
the  people.  Lord  Canning  was  governor-general, 
and  was  much  criticised  for  lack  of  spirit  in  deal- 
ing with  the  situation  in  the  early  part  of  the  out- 
break. But  general  opinion  has  much  changed  in 
regard  to  his  administration,  which  is  now  con- 
sidered to  have  been  judicious  and  dignified  on 
the  whole. 

I  shall  never  forget  some  of  the  addresses  I 
heard  Dr.  Duff  deliver  in  those  days,  especially 
one  in  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  on  the  mu- 
tiny. I  think  it  was  the  most  eloquent  address  I 
ha\'e  ever  heard.  I  have  never  heard  anything, 
from  even  Bishop  Simpson  in  his  best  days,  equal- 
ing it. 


36  TwENTY-OXE  VEARS  IN  IXDIA. 


Early  in  February  we  began  to  consider  the 
feasibility  of  undertaking  the  journey  to  Xaini 
Tal.  We  were  very  anxious  to  make  it  before 
the  extreme  hot  weather  should  set  in^  and  Mr. 
Butler  was  very  anxious  to  have  us  do  so,  that 
we  together  might  lay  our  plans  for  opening  our 
work  in  the  plains.  We  soon  had  a  communica- 
tion from  him  proposing  to  meet  us  in  Agra.  It 
was  thought  that  we  might  venture  to  undertake 
the  journey  with  a  fair  degree  of  safety.  But  all 
means  of  travel  were  monopolized  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, it  being  a  time  of  war;  but  we  finally 
succeeded  in  arranging  for  coolies  to  propel  us, 
we  furnishing  our  own  carriages. 

Accordingly,  on  the  24th  day  of  February, 
1858,  we  started  for  Raneegimge,  the  terminus  of 
the  railway,  112  miles  from  Calcutta.  Here  we 
found  our  carriages,  and  began  our  long  journey 
to  the  northwest.  We  journeyed  day  and  night 
with  changes  of  coolies  every  ten  miles.  There 
is  this  to  be  said,  the  road  was  splendid.  There 
is  no  better  road  in  the  world  than  the  Grand 
Trunk  road,  stretching  away  from  Calcutta  to 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


37 


Peshawur,  the  magnificent  distance  of  i,8oo 
miles. 

W'e  were  nearly  a  fortnight  in  reaching  Alla- 
habad, a  distance  of  500  miles,  and  which  may 
now  be  made  easily,  and  with  comfort  in  twenty 
hours.  Here  we  were  obliged  to  interrupt  our 
journey,  as  a  gentleman  had  given  me  the  use 
of  a  carriage  to  this  place  for  the  sake  of  getting 
it  up  country,  and  he  was  to  furnish  me  a  horse 
dak  from  there  on  to  Agra.  So  we  were  sepa- 
rated from  our  party  here.  The  others  went  on, 
hoping  to  get  coolies  as  they  had  so  far  on  their 
journey ;  but  they  failed  in  their  expectation. 
They  succeeded,  however,  in  pressing  the  horses 
into  their  service  belonging  to  the  Dak  Company, 
that  they  found  along  the  road  every  five  miles, 
and  so  succeeded  in  reaching  Agra  safely. 

We  followed  in  two  or  three  days,  and  reached 
Agra  safely,  where,  to  our  great  delight,  we  met 
Mr.  Butler.  While  we  remained  in  Agra  we  put 
up  in  a  room  in  the  Jawab,  one  of  the  buildings 
of  the  Taj-Mahal.  I  will  not  attempt  a  descrip- 
tion of  this  wonderful  building,  it  has  been  so 


38         TwENTY-ONU  Years  in  India. 


often  described  by  others.  I  will  only  say  it 
was  built  by  the  Mogul  Emperor  Shah  Jehan  as 
a  mausoleum  for  his  favorite  wife,  Mumtaz  Ma- 
hal. It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  structures  in 
the  world.  It  is  a  poem  in  marble.  Twenty  thou- 
sand workmen  were  seventeen  years  in  construct- 
ing it,  and  the  edifices  connected  with  it,  at  a 
cost  of  about  nine  million  dollars.  Much  of  the 
labor  was  forced,  the  workmen  receiving  only  a 
scant  allowance  of  rice  for  their  daily  consump- 
tion. 

From  here  we  went  to  Meerut  and  spent  a 
few  days  in  rest,  and  then  started  out  to  make  the 
journey  by  way  of  Landour  and  the  mountains 
to  Naini  Tal,  which  would  take  about  twenty- 
two  days.  If  we  could  have  gone  by  the  direct 
route  we  could  have  made  the  journey  in  two  or 
three  days ;  but  the  country  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  mutineers,  and  A\e  could  not  tell  when  it 
would  be  opened  and  practicable  to  go  by  it;  so 
we  determined  to  take  the  long  route  by  the  moun- 
tains. It  was,  in  many  respects,  a  very  wearisome 
journey ;  though  on  the  whole  we  enjoyed  it.  The 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  ix  India. 


39 


climate  was  delightful,  and  the  scenery  in  many 
places  grand.  Our  party  consisted  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Butler  and  their  little  Julia,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Pierce  and  their  little  ^Marilla,  who  had  made  the 
voyage  with  us  from  America ;  and  Mrs.  Hum- 
phrey and  myself,  with  Joel  and  Samuel  and  Bella. 
Our  party,  all  told,  consisted  of  nearly  seventy- 
fi\'e  people,  so  we  made  quite  an  imposing  array. 

Our  last  day's  journey  was  very  long  and 
fatiguing.  We  started  as  usual  very  early  in  the 
morning,  and  it  was  near  midnight  when,  after  a 
long  climb  up  the  mountain  side  that  shuts  in 
Xaini  Tal  on  the  west  and  north,  we  emerged 
from  the  shadows  and  came  into  the  moonlight  at 
the  pass,  and  we  looked  down  the  mountain  into 
the  valley  below  and  caught  our  first  glimpse  of 
the  beautiful  "Little  Lake,"  as  Naini  Tal  means. 
How  beautiful  it  was,  shimmering  in  the  moon- 
light !  I  can  hardly  imagine  heaven  to  be  more 
beautiful  to  a  weary  traveler  from  earth  than 
that  lake  and  valley  were  to  us,  so  weary,  that 
night.  Mr.  Parsons  met  us  and  welcomed  us 
to  our  home.   We  were  escorted  to  a  lovely  little 


40        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

cottage.  A  fire  was  burning  on  the  hearth,  the 
table  was  spread,  and  we  were  told  this  was  to 
be  our  home.   We  said,  surely  this  is  heaven ! 

Our  long  journey  of  almost  two  months  was 
ended ;  we  could  now  rest  without  fear  of  falling 
into  the  hands  of  bloodthirsty  enemies.  How 
much  we  had  to  thank  our  Heavenly  Father  for 
that  night!  This  was  to  be  one  of  our  mission 
stations ;  so  it  was  home  for  a  time,  and  we  could 
rest  in  peace  and  safety.  Later  it  was  my 
home  for  about  fourteen  years.  I  shall  have 
more  to  say  in  regard  to  our  work  in  this  lovely 
place  farther  on. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Sepoy  Mutiny  of  1857. 

It  may  not  be  inappropriate  now  briefly  to 
consider  some  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the 
mutiny  of  1857.  The  year  opened  as  others,  with 
nothing  to  indicate  that  anything  unusual  was 
about  to  take  place ;  iDut  soon  unpleasant  rumors 
began  to  be  heard  of  dissatisfaction  and  uneasi- 
ness in  the  native  army.  There  was,  however, 
nothing  in  this  particularly  alarming,  as  such 
demonstrations  were  not  uncommon.  It  is  a  re- 
markable fact  that  British  power  in  India  had 
been  established  by  a  native  army,  ofificered  by 
Englishmen.  The  native  soldiers  are  calls  Sepoys, 
which  means  soldiers.  From  the  time  of  Clive, 
they  have  always  had  a  few  British  soldiers  in 
their  army  in  India ;  but  the  chief  dependence  has 
been  upon  the  native  force.  The  natives  were 
brave,  and  when  trained  and  armed,  after  the 

4^ 


42         Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


English  system,  and  led  by  English  officers,  made 
excellent  soldiers.  They  were  much  superior  to 
the  native  armies  of  the  country.  This  was,  no 
doubt,  due  to  the  influence  of  their  officers  upon 
them,  to  their  training,  and  superior  weapons. 
Their  failure  to  overthrow  the  English  was  prob- 
ably owing  to  the  fact  that  they  were  not  accus- 
tomed to  independent  action.  They  depended 
upon  their  officers,  and  without  them  they  were 
unable  to  face  the  enemy.  Their  courage  and 
skill  seemed  to  forsake  them  wlien  left  to  their 
own  resources.  When  the  mutiny  broke  out  there 
were  but  comparatively  few  European  soldiers  in 
the  country.  There  were  not  more  than  four  or 
five  thousand  in  all  of  the  Northwest,  over  against 
a  native  army  of  fifty  or  sixty  thousand. 

The  native  army  was  a  great  power  for  good 
in  the  hands  of  the  English,  but  in  the  hands  of 
designing  and  mischievous  men  it  might  become  a 
menace  to  the  power  that  created  it.  In  the  early 
months  of  that  year,  there  was  in  the  minds  of 
many  a  feeling  of  suspense:  there  seemed  to  be 
something  in  the  air  indicating  a  gathering  storm. 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  43 


It  was  reported  that  Chapatties  (a  kind  of  native 
bread)  were  being  mysteriously  circulated  over 
the  country  from  place  to  place.  No  one  knew  the 
meaning  of  it,  but  all  felt  it  boded  no  good,  but 
rather  evil  in  some  form.  The  old  musket  about 
this  time  was  superseded  by  the  modern  rifle,  and 
trouble  arose  about  the  cartridges  used  with  the 
new  weapon.  It  was  reported  that  they  were 
lubricated  with  cow's  fat  and  lard.  The  Hindus 
worship  the  cow,  and  to  bite  the  cartridge  thus 
prepared,  they  said,  would  break  their  caste. 
Everything  pertaining  to  swine  is  an  abomina- 
tion to  a  Moslem,  so  both  classes  of  sepoys  had  a 
grievance,  and  were  up  in  arms  about  the  new 
cartridge.  The  Nineteenth  Native  Infantry,  sta- 
tioned at  Berhampore,  about  a  hundred  miles 
north  of  Calcutta,  had  forcibly  opened  the  Bells 
(small  structures  where  their  arms  were  stored 
when  not  in  use)  and  seized  their  guns  and  am- 
munition, and  refused  to  use  the  new  cartridge. 
Their  conduct  was  so  insubordinate  and  mutinous 
that  it  could  not  be  overlooked;  accordingly,  on 
the  30th  of  March  they  were  disarmed  and  dis- 


44        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

missed  from  the  service.  On  the  6th  of  Febru- 
ary an  officer  of  the  Thirt3--fourth  Native  Infan- 
try, stationed  at  Barackpore,  just  a  few  miles  to 
the  north  of  Calcutta,  was  informed  by  a  sepoy  of 
his  company,  that  the  four  regiments  stationed  at 
that  place  had  determined  to  mutiny  and  murder 
their  officers,  burn  their  residences,  plunder  their 
property,  and  proceed  to  Fort  William  and  seize 
it.  Though  the  order  of  drill  had  been  changed 
so  that  they  might  not  be  required  to  bite  the  cart- 
ridge, they  were  also  assured  that  the  cartridges 
were  not  different  from  those  they  had  been  ac- 
customed to  use  with  their  former  weapons;  but 
they  were  still  dissatisfied  and  positively  refused 
to  use  them.  A  sepoy  of  this  regiment  shot  one 
of  the  officers,  severely  wounding  him.  This 
sepoy  was  hanged  and  the  regiment  was  disarmed 
and  disbanded.  The  Government  now  became 
alive  to  the  danger  that  menaced  it.  A  general 
feeling  of  alarm  prevailed  among  Europeans ;  all 
felt  that  they  were  standing  on  a  mine  that  might 
at  any  moment  explode  and  involve  them  in  a 
common  ruin.     It  is  now  known  that  it  was 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  ix  India.  45 

planned,  that  on  a  certain  day — the  31st  of  May 
— all  over  the  country  the  sepoys  should  rise,  mas- 
sacre all  Europeans,  burn  and  plunder  their 
dwellings  and  property,  and  so  sweep  from  the 
land  everything  Christian.  Providentially  the 
movement  was  precipitated  by  the  native  troops 
in  Meerut,  a  large  military  station  in  the  north- 
west. There  was  a  regiment  of  European  sol- 
diers here  at  the  time,  with  a  large  force  of  na- 
tive soldiers,  both  cavalry  and  infantry.  It  seems 
that  a  considerable  number  of  men  of  one  of  the 
cavalry  regiments  refused  to  use  the  new  cart- 
ridge, and  were  put  under  arrest,  and  were  tried 
by  court-martial,  and  were  sentenced  to  prison  for 
ten  years  at  hard  labor.  They  were  stripped  of 
their  uniforms,  and  irons  were  riveted  upon  their 
ankles  on  the  parade  ground.  As  they  were  be- 
ing marched  to  the  place  of  confinement,  they 
called  upon  their  comrades  to  rise  and  deliver 
them.  The  next  day  the  native  regiments  muti- 
nied, burned  their  barracks,  murdered  as  many  of 
their  officers  and  Europeans  as  they  could,  opened 
the  prison,  liberating  the  prisoners,  burned  the 


46         Twenty-one  Years  ix  India. 


residences  of  Europeans,  and  destroying  all  the 
public  property  possible,  then  marched  off  to 
Delhi,  forty  miles  distant.  Delhi  is  a  historic 
city  in  India;  it  has  been  the  famous  capital  of 
many  dynasties  which  have  ruled  the  country,  and 
it  has  been  rendered  especially  celebrated  by  the 
reigns  of  the  Mogul  kings.  Though  the  country 
was  ruled  by  the  English,  a  remnant  of  this  power 
still  existed  in  form.  Bliadur-Shah,  the  last  of 
the  Mogul  kings,  had  been  permitted  to  keep  up 
the  semblance  of  royalty  in  the  fort  at  Delhi.  He 
had  greater  influence  with  all  classes  and  creeds 
than  any  other,  and  it  was  natural  that  the  dis- 
affected and  insubordinate  should  gather  about 
him.  He  was  disaffected  towards  the  British 
Government,  as  it  had  decided  that  the  title  to 
royalty  should  cease  with  him.  The  royal  family 
had  been  informed  of  this  decision,  and  although 
they  seemed  to  acquiesce,  they  were  smarting  un- 
der what  they  felt  to  be  a  great  injustice  and  in- 
dignity, and  were  only  biding  their  time  when 
they  might  retaliate.  The  mutiny  of  the  native 
army  seemed  to  affor^-  the  opportunity  desired. 


TwEXTY-oxE  Years  in  India.  47 


The  troops  that  had  risen  against  the  Eng- 
lish in  Meerut,  upon  arri^'ing  in  Delhi,  were 
joined  by  those  stationed  at  that  place,  and  they 
at  once  broke  out  into  open  rebellion  and  pro- 
ceeded to  murder  all  Christians  they  could  find, 
and  plunder  their  property,  and  then  proclaimed 
Bhadur-Shah  king.  The  sepoys  ever^'where  fol- 
lowed the  example  thus  set  them  by  the  sepoys 
of  Meerut,  and  at  once  rose  in  open  mutiny,  mur- 
dering and  plundering  all  Christians,  and  marched 
off  to  Delhi  and  joined  the  standard  of  Bhadur- 
Shah.  So  this  became  the  great  center  of  the 
mutiny  in  upper  India.  They  made  this  their 
stronghold,  and  here  laid  out  their  full  strength. 

To  the  north  lay  the  Panjab,  the  land  of  five 
rivers,  as  the  word  indicates.  The  word  is  de- 
rived from  two  words,  panch,  five,  and  ab,  water, 
literally  five  waters,  which  is  contracted  into  Pan- 
jab. This  was  the  home  of  the  Sikhs,  a  brave  and 
warlike  nation,  which  had  only  a  short  time  be- 
fore been  conquered  by  the  British,  and  their 
countr\-  annexed  to  the  British  possessions.  The 
danger  was  that  they  might  join  with  the  Hin- 


48         Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


dustanees  against  their  conquerors.  Had  they  done 
so  it  would  seem  that  nothing  could  have  saved 
the  British  power  from  overthrow.  It  seems  re- 
markable that  they  did  not.  Sir  John  Lawrence 
was  commissioner  of  the  Pan  jab  at  that  time. 
Through  his  influence,  under  God,  with  the  grand 
men  associated  with  him — such  as  Edwards,  Nich- 
olson, Montgomery,  and  many  others,  thoroughly 
versed  in  controlling  and  governing  the  rough 
and  wild  people  of  the  northern  frontier — the 
Sikhs  and  many  other  tribes  always  ready  to  join 
in  an  affray  when  opportunity  offers,  were  not 
only  kept  loyal,  but  turned  to  good  account  in 
helping  to  put  down  the  mutiny  and  recover 
Delhi.  Sir  John  Lav.rence  saw  at  once  the  su- 
preme necessity  of  recovering  Delhi  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible.  He  almost  denuded 
the  Panjab  of  British  soldiers  and  hastened 
them  off  to  Delhi.  Early  in  June  a  force  of 
three  or  four  thousand  men  occupied  the  ridge 
on  the  western  side  of  Delhi,  and  commenced  a 
siege  that  lasted  all  through  the  intense  heat  of 
an  Indian  hot  and  rainy  season,  until  the  middle 


Twb;nty-one;  Years  in  India.  49 

of  September,  when  the  city  was  taken.  The 
suffering  endured  through  all  this  period  by  the 
army  can  not  be  described.  The  force  at  no  time 
consisted  of  more  than  6,000  men,  and  the  number 
was  constantly  lessened  by  casualties  in  battle, 
and  by  sickness  from  the  dreadful  exposure.  In 
the  fall  of  Delhi  the  backbone  of  the  mutiny  was 
broken ;  but  much  hard  fighting  remained  to  be 
done,  especially  at  Lucknow.  The  royal  family 
was  broken  up,  the  princes  were  slain,  the  old 
king,  Bhadur-Shah,  was  banished  to  Burmah, 
where  he  died  soon  after. 

A  short  time  before  the  mutiny  broke  out,  the 
king  of  Oudh  had  been  deposed  and  his  country 
annexed  to  the  British  possessions.  His  Govern- 
ment was  so  corrupt  and  oppressive  that  it  could 
be  endured  no  longer.  He  had  been  warned  re- 
peatedly by  different  governor-generals  that  he 
must  reform  his  court  and  administration;  but 
these  warnings  were  unheeded,  and  affairs  con- 
tinued to  go  from  bad  to  worse.  The  time  came, 
at  length,  when  this  could  not  be  suffered  longer, 
and  the  king  was  removed  and  the  country  taken 
4 


50        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

over  by  the  British  in  the  interest  of  humanity, 
and  who  proceeded  to  revise  the  land  tenure,  so 
as  to  protect  the  cultivators  against  the  rapacity 
of  the  Zemindars,  or  land-owners.  The  people 
however,  gave  the  English  no  credit,  but  looked 
upon  it  as  usurpation  and  unjust.  The  landed 
proprietors  complained  of  oppression,  because 
they  were  not  permitted  to  oppress  their  tenants 
as  they  had  before  done,  and  the  tenants  them- 
selves distrusted  the  motives  of  the  Government, 
so  Oudh  became  a  hot-bed  of  discontent  and 
mutiny.  Many  of  the  sepoys  in  the  army  were 
from  Oudh,  and  they  all  shared  in  this  dissatis- 
faction. In  this  way  they  were  prepared  to  make 
the  most  of  any  incident  that  turned  up  and  that 
afforded  an  opportunity  to  show  their  ill-will 
toward  the  English. 

It  now  seems  strange  that  so  many  could  be- 
lieve as  they  did  that  the  purpose  to  rise  and  throw 
off  allegiance  to  the  British  was  not  at  this  time 
almost  universal  in  the  sepoy  army.  After  half 
the  army  had  mutinied,  many  English  officers 
said  their  own  regiments  would  not  mutiny,  and 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  51 


persisted  in  trusting  in  their  men.  Many  more 
might  have  escaped,  but  for  this  bHnd  confidence 
in  the  loyalty  of  the  sepoys.  Sir  Henry  Law- 
rence was  commissioner  of  Oudh  at  the  time 
the  mutiny  broke  out  in  Lucknow.  He  seemed 
to  have  taken  in  the  situation  from  the  first,  and 
formed  an  accurate  conception  of  the  extent  of 
the  danger  threatened.  Years  before  he  had  pre- 
dicted that  some  day  the  native  army  would 
mutiny  and  attempt  the  overthrow  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. He  now  believed  that  what  he  foresaw 
was  about  to  occur,  and  he  set  about  preparing 
the  residency  so  that  all  Europeans  might  seek 
shelter  there  when  the  storm  should  burst  upon 
them.  He  laid  in  supplies  sufficient  for  a  siege 
of  long  duration.  So  when  the  exigency  arose 
they  were  ready.  The  wisdom  of  all  this  was 
seen  later.  They  had  food,  water,  and  fuel  suffi- 
cient to  meet  the  wants  of  all  confined  there  for 
more  than  five  months.  They  had  an  abundant 
supply  of  ammunition  also;  had  either  food  or 
ammunition  failed  they  must  have  perished.  The 
preservation  of  all  that  company  of  people  was 


52        Twe;nty-one  Ye;ars  in  India. 


therefore  due  to  the  wise  foresight  of  that  great 
and  good  man,  who  was  killed  early  in  the  siege 
by  a  cannon-ball  which  entered  his  room.  For 
more  than  fi\-e  months  they  defended  themselves 
in  their  frail  defenses  against  vast  hordes  of  the 
enemy  that  surrounded  them  in  the  city,  subject 
to  every  disadvantage  and  constant  peril  by  night 
and  day.  Havelock  and  Outram  fought  their 
way  into  the  residency,  but  the  enemy  closed  the 
way  behind  them  so  that  they  could  not  get  out 
after  they  had  forced  their  way  in.  They  re- 
mained shut  up  with  the  others  until  finally  re- 
lieved in  November  by  Sir  Colin  Campbell.  Luck- 
now  was  not  taken  until  March  following,  1858. 

The  story  of  the  siege  of  the  residency  in 
Lucknow  is  a  thrilling  one.  It  is  hard  to  imag- 
ine the  suffering  endured  during  those  months 
of  that  dreadful  hot  season.  Under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances  the  intense  heat  is  al- 
most unendurable  to  foreigners;  it  is  a  wonder 
how  any  lived  through  it,  shut  up  in  small  or 
overcrowded  quarters,  with  little  chance  for  ven- 
tilation, and  with  their  necessarily  coarse  fare 


TwENTY-OXE 


Years  in  India. 


53 


and  lack  of  all  comforts  of  life,  to  which  they  had 
been  accustomed ;  as  it  was,  many  succumbed.  The 
residency  is  now  in  ruins,  but  it  is  carefully  pre- 
served in  its  present  form  as  a  memorial  of  those 
dreadful  days.  Xo  stranger  would  come  to  India 
without  visiting  the  residency.  It  is  indeed  his- 
toric ground.  Lucknow  is  a  large  city  with  many 
objects  of  interest  and  worthy  of  the  attention  of 
the  stranger.  It  is  vastly  different  from  what  it 
was  before  the  mutiny.  The  people  of  Oudh  are 
now  prosperous  and  happy  under  British  rule.  It 
is  a  noble  field  for  missionary  work,  and  much  is 
being  done  to  improve  and  elevate  the  people. 
It  is  the  very  garden  of  India,  its  people  are  nat- 
urally a  noble  race,  all  they  lack  is  Christianity; 
this  many  are  now  receiving,  and  the  prospect  is 
that  in  the  near  future  great  numbers  will  do 
the  same. 

Another  of  the  leading  spirits,  in  events  lead- 
ing to  the  mutiny,  was  Dhondo-Pant,  or  Xana- 
Sahib,  as  he  is  more  commonly  known.  He  was 
the  adopted  son  and  heir  of  the  last  of  the  Mah- 
ratta  chiefs.    A  pension  had  been  given  to  the 


54        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

Peshwa,  with  the  distinct  understanding  that  it 
should  cease  at  his  death,  which  occurred  in  185 1. 
Nana-Sahib,  though  left  a  large  fortune,  was  not 
satisfied.  The  lapse  of  the  pension  was  a  sore 
grievance  to  him,  and  what  he  regarded  as  a  gross 
wrong  rankled  in  his  breast,  and  when  all  efforts 
to  get  it  renewed  failed,  his  rage  and  hate  of  the 
British  became  most  intense.  He  lived  at  Bithur 
on  the  Ganges,  a  few  miles  to  the  west  of  Cawn- 
pore.  He  was  apparently  very  friendly  with  the 
English  residents  of  the  station,  and  often  got  up 
lavish  entertainments  for  them  at  his  palace.  All 
the  while  he  was  plotting  their  destruction.  That 
he  had  been  plotting  with  the  king  of  Delhi  and 
the  Nawab  of  Lucknow,  or  of  Oudh,  is  now  well 
known.  He  did  his  utmost  to  promote  discon- 
tent in  the  native  army.  He  directed  the  sepoys 
in  their  movements  when  they  mutinied,  and 
openly  assumed  command  of  the  rebel  forces. 
There  was  a  part  of  a  European  regiment  at 
Cawnpore  at  the  time,  and  a  large  number  of 
European  and  Christian  families.  The  place  se- 
lected where  they  were  to  congregate  in  case  of 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  in  India. 


55 


disturbance,  and  make  their  defense,  was  not 
well  chosen.  It  was  for  the  most  part  open 
ground,  with  no  natural  defenses  of  any  account. 
There  were  some  barracks,  but  they  were  but 
poorly  adapted  either  for  shelter  or  defense,  but 
they  did  the  best  they  could  to  protect  themselves. 
For  three  weeks  in  the  terrible  heat  of  June,  they 
kept  at  bay  all  the  forces  of  Nana-Sahib.  Dur- 
ing this  time,  however,  many  were  killed,  and 
many  died  of  exposure.  If  they  could  hold  out  a 
few  days  more  relief  would  come  to  them.  Have- 
lock,  with  an  avenging  army,  was  on  the  way  to 
their  relief,  his  guns  might  almost  have  been 
heard  at  the  time,  but  this  was  unknown  to  them, 
though  well  known  to  their  enemies.  The  Nana 
now  sought  to  accomplish  by  craft  what  he  was 
too  cowardly  to  do  by  force.  He  sent  in  a  flag 
of  truce,  proposing  to  supply  them  with  boats  and 
all  needed  supplies  to  take  them  to  Allahabad,  if 
they  would  surrender  their  arms  and  march  out 
of  their  defenses.  In  an  evil  hour  General 
Wheeler,  their  commanding  ofiFicer,  listened  to  his 
proposal,  and  trusting  his  integrity  and  sincerity, 


56         TwiENTY-ONE  Years  in  India. 


accepted  his  terms,  and  marched  out  and  took  the 
road  to  the  river  a  mile  away.  As  they  entered 
the  boats  and  were  pushed  out  into  the  stream,  a 
masked  battery  opened  upon  them,  and  only  four 
men  escaped.  The  women  and  children  who  were 
not  killed  were  marched  back  to  the  station  and 
a  little  later  were  all  huddled  together  in  a  small 
bungalow  and  were  butchered  in  cold  blood,  and 
their  bodies,  the  dead  and  dying  together,  were 
thrown  into  a  well  near  by.  A  more  cruel  and 
diabolical  deed  has  never  been  perpetrated,  cer- 
tainly not  in  modern  times.  No  name  is  so  cov- 
ered with  obloquy  as  that  of  this  wretched  man 
Nana-Sahib.  He  fled  ultimately  to  Nepal,  where 
in  some  lonely  spot  in  the  mountains,  it  is  sup- 
posed, he  ended  his  wretched  life.  Over  the  well 
is  now  a  beautiful  monument,  and  surrounding 
it  is  a  beautiful  and  well-kept  garden  of  several 
acres,  called  the  "^Memorial  Garden."  No  one 
drives  through  it  faster  than  a  walk;  natives  are 
not  permitted  to  enter  it.  It  is  one  of  the  great 
sights  of  India,  not  surpassed  in  interest  by  any 
other.    No  traveler  would  think  of  passing  it  by. 


MEMORIAL   WtLL   IN  CAWNPORE. 


Twdnty-one;  Years  in  India.  57 


The  monument  and  the  garden  are  beautiful  as 
works  of  art,  but  it  is  the  shocking  event  they 
commemorate  that  invests  them  with  such  uni- 
versal interest  to  all  intelligent  people  the  world 
over.  I  will  conclude  this  chapter  by  briefly  sum- 
marizing the  causes  that  led  up  to  the  mutiny, 
as  the  matter  is  now  understood. 

The  trouble  with  the  sepoys  respecting  the 
cartridges  is  one  of  the  causes,  no  doubt,  but  it 
alone  could  never  have  produced  the  great  up- 
heaval of  that  time.  There  were  other  causes 
that  did  not  appear  on  the  surface  of  events  then 
transpiring.  I  think  it  is  now  clearly  understood 
that  the  Mohammedans  were  the  prime  movers 
in  that  struggle.  They  ruled  the  country  for  sev- 
eral hundred  years  before  the  British  took  it  from 
them.  The  purpose  with  them  was  to  regain  their 
supremacy.  They  were  the  leaders  in  the  plot. 
They  had  a  tradition  among  them  that  the  Brit- 
ish supremacy  would  be  for  one  hundred  years; 
that  supremacy  began  with  the  battle  of  Plassey, 
in  1757,  so  according  to  that  tradition  it  would 
end  in  1857,  the  year  of  the  mutiny.   Much  was 


58         Twenty-one  Years  in  India, 


made  of  that,  at  the  time,  and  it  had  great  weight 
with  superstitious  people. 

The  Brahmins  were  drawn  in  to  co-operate 
with  them,  because  they  saw  that,  in  the  order  of 
things  brought  in  by  the  foreigners,  their  craft 
was  in  danger.  They  hated  our  schools,  which 
meant  the  elevation  of  the  common  people.  They 
especially  hated  female  education,  railways,  and 
missionaries,  and  the  English  way  of  administer- 
ing justice.  Their  ideas  of  human  equality  and 
progress  were  especially  offensive  to  the  Brah- 
mins. With  them  it  was  a  struggle  against  Chris- 
tianity, as  that  means  progress,  and  the  overthrow 
of  their  system  of  caste  and  their  forms  of  idol- 
atry. 

The  Mohammedans  and  Hindus  are  antago- 
nistic, and  under  no  ordinary  circumstances  could 
they  fraternize  and  co-operate;  but  their  hatred 
of  the  English  and  all  forms  of  progress,  and  of 
Christianity,  was  so  great,  that  the  Hindus  of 
some  of  the  higher  castes  were  led  for  the 
time  to  sink,  in  some  measure,  their  antipathy 
toward  the  Mohammedans,  and  to  join  with  them 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  59 

in  this  effort  to  sweep  out  the  hated  foreigners, 
who  stood  for  Christianity  and  progress. 

The  mutiny  will  ever  mark  a  crisis  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  English,  and  of  Christianity  in  India. 
It  was  overruled  so  as  to  bring  in  a  period  of  ad- 
vanced progress  in  the  country.  India  had  been 
won  by  the  East  India  Trading  Company.  It 
was  a  great  achievement  that  can  hardly  be 
equaled  in  history;  but  the  company  had  had  its 
day,  and  the  year  following  the  mutiny  the  Gov- 
ernment passed  over  to  the  crown,  much  to  the 
advantage  of  the  country  in  many  ways,  as  the 
history  of  the  intervening  years  will  show. 

Another  effect  which  followed  the  mutiny  was 
greater  interest  in  the  work  of  missions  among 
Government  officials,  both  in  the  civil  and  mili- 
tary departments,  and  among  all  classes  of  Eng- 
lish people  in  the  country ;  but  for  their  liberality 
we  could  not  have  accomplished  what  we  did  in 
opening  our  Mission  Station,  as  is  mentioned  in 
a  future  chapter.  We  received  encouragement 
from  English  people,  such  as  we  could  not  have 
received  before  the  mutiny  occurred.    It  awak- 


6o        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

ened  a  deeper  interest  in  the  cause  in  England, 
and  in  this  country  than  had  before  been  felt.  It 
brought  in  a  new  era  in  mission  work  and  of  gen- 
eral progress. 

It  was  followed  by  an  impression  among  the 
more  thoughtful  of  the  native  population,  that 
the  country  was  to  become  a  Christian  country, 
and  this  predisposed  them  to  give  the  Gospel  a 
hearing.  I  think  that  this  has  had  much  to  do 
with  the  great  progress  that  has  signalized  these 
later  years. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Beginning  to  Open  Our  Work. 

The  day  after  our  arrival  was  Sunday,  and 
we  intensely  enjoyed  its  rest  and  quiet.  In  the 
afternoon  a  service  was  held  in  the  parlor  of  ]\Ir. 
Butler's  residence,  and  a  good  number  of  promi- 
nent people  were  present,  especially  ladies.  The 
gentlemen  were  mostly  in  the  plains  on  duty  with 
the  army,  or  engaged  in  restoring  things  to  order 
in  places  recovered  from  the  sepoys,  so  we  had 
but  few  of  them  with  us  at  this  service.  Mr. 
Butler  preached  a  delightful  sermon,  and  it  was 
indeed  a  treat  to  hear  a  sermon  again.  A  little 
later  our  superintendent  was  honored  with  the 
title  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  one  of  our  home 
colleges,  an  honor  most  worthily  bestowed  in  this 
instance.  He  was  a  very  superior  preacher;  it 
was  said  of  him  that  he  was  the  best  preacher  in 
India.      The  service  begun  that  afternoon  has 

6i 


62         Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


been  continued  ever  since.  For  more  than  a  score 
of  years  it  was  conducted  as  an  evening  service 
only ;  in  the  morning  a  Hindustani  service  was 
held.  Then  a  morning  service  in  English  was 
begun,  which  has  been  continued  up  to  the  pres- 
ent time.  Our  English  Church  in  Naini  Tal  has 
been  a  power  for  good  in  all  these  years. 

After  writing  our  home  letters  and  getting 
settled,  which  occupied  a  day  or  two,  we  began 
to  look  about  to  see  what  we  could  do  in  the  way 
of  beginning  work  among  the  natives.  A  school 
for  boys  first  engaged  our  attention.  Mr.  Josiah 
Parsons  had  joined  Dr.  Butler  some  little  time 
before  our  arrival,  who  was  living  in  Naini  Tal 
and  waiting  to  begin  work.  He  had  made  all 
the  arrangements  for  our  reception.  He  and  his 
wife  both  had  a  good  knowledge  of  the  language, 
and  were  especially  valuable  to  us  at  that  time 
on  its  account.  A  place  was  rented  in  the  Bazar, 
and  a  school  for  boys  was  soon  opened  under  the 
charge  of  Mr.  Parsons. 

A  school  for  girls  was  also  soon  opened  in 
Mr.  Pierce's  residence,  under  the  charge  of  the 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  63 


ladies  of  the  Mission,  with  more  than  a  score 
of  girls  in  attendance.  These  schools  have  gone 
on  all  the  intervening  years  to  the  present  time, 
and  they  have  done  much  in  shaping  the  character 
of  the  residents  of  the  native  community.  We 
also  began  a  Hindustani  service  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing. Having  no  suitable  place  in  which  to  hold 
such  a  service,  an  out-building  connected  with 
the  servants'  quarters  of  Dr.  Butler's  residence, 
which  was  designed  for  housing  sheep,  was  reno- 
vated and  made  suitable  for  the  purpose.  My  part 
in  the  arrangements  was  to  make  some  seats, 
which  I  did  with  my  own  hands.  I  was  rather 
suspicious  from  the  first  that  what  I  was  doing 
might  be  rather  superfluous,  but  it  was  thought 
the  proper  thing,  of  course,  to  have  seats  in  a 
])lacc  of  worship.  Later  we  learned  that  the  na- 
tives do  not  see  things  just  as  we  do  in  this  and 
in  many  other  things;  a  piece  of  matting  or  the 
bare  ground  would  be  much  preferred  by  them 
to  benches,  or  chairs  even. 

Early  in  May  the  British  army  altered  Rohil- 
cund,  and  Bareilly  was  taken  from  the  mutineers; 


64         Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

Khan  Bahadur  Khan,  with  his  followers,  had  fled 
in  hot  haste  to  the  jungles  towards  Nepal.  Many 
of  the  leaders  were  captured  and  were  executed 
or  banished  to  the  Andaman  Islands.  Those  who 
had  remained  loyal  to  the  British  and  protected 
English  people  during  the  ascendency  of  the  mu- 
tineers, were  handsomely  rewarded.  Captain 
Gowan  and  other  Europeans  were  protected  in  a 
village  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  out  of  Bareilly  for 
months,  and  finally  made  their  escape.  General 
Gowan,  as  he  became  in  time,  for  many  years 
supported  a  native  minister  and  a  school  in  that 
village.  He  was  a  very  warm  friend  of  our  Mis- 
sion, and  subscribed  liberally  for  its  support  up 
to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  only  a 
few  years  since. 

Immediately  upon  the  taking  of  Bareilly  the 
country  settled  down  and  became  quiet,  as  though 
nothing  had  happened.  This  certainly  would  not 
have  been  if  the  people  generally  had  been  in- 
volved in  the  uprising.  In  a  very  brief  time  the 
roads  were  opened,  and  travel  on  the  main  lines 
of  communication  was  resumed  and  became  safe 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  65 

as  before.  We  soon  heard  that  our  goods,  that 
we  dispatched  from  Calcutta  nearly  three  months 
before,  and  that  we  hardly  ever  expected  to  see 
again,  had  actually  arrived  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  and  we  were  called  upon  to  make  ar- 
rangements for  their  being  brought  up  the  hills 
to  Naini  Tal.  This  was  cheering  news,  indeed. 
Soon  after  the  way  to  Naini  Tal  was  opened  by 
Moradabad,  Mr.  Knowles  joined  us  with  his  fam- 
ily, coming  from  Meerut. 

Mr.  Knowles  was  an  officer  in  a  volunteer 
company  of  cavalry  which  did  good  service  in  the 
mutiny,  and  would  have  been  well  cared  for  had 
he  chosen  to  remain  in  Government  service,  but 
he  chose  service  for  Christ  in  the  mission  field, 
and  has  had  a  most  useful  career.  After  nearly 
forty-five  years  of  uninterrupted  service,  having 
had  only  two  years'  furlough  to  England  in  the 
meantime,  at  the  last  session  of  the  North  India 
Conference  he  took  a  superannuated  relation. 
He  is  the  senior  missionary  in  our  service  in  the 
field,  and  proposes  to  spend  his  last  days  in  the 
field  of  his  life  work.  He  is  a  superior  scholar 
5 


66 


TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia. 


in  the  languages  of  India,  and  an  able  preacher, 
both  in  English  and  in  the  vernaculars. 

^^'e  had  a  service  in  English  in  the  midweek 
as  well  as  the  Sunday  service,  which  was  A-ery 
well  attended  by  our  English  friends ;  at  these 
services  we  preached  in  turn.  We  also  began 
Bazar  preaching,  which  was  conducted  by  ]\Ir. 
Parsons  and  Joel  Janvier,  the  native  minister. 
Many  plans  had  to  be  considered  for  opening  our 
work  in  the  plains.  Rohilcund,  with  the  moun- 
tain countr}-  to  the  north,  had  been  accepted  as 
our  field.  There  came  a  letter  from  our  Mis- 
sion rooms  in  Xew  York  authorizing  us  to  re- 
consider our  field,  if  we  thought  it  desirable  to 
do  so  on  account  of  the  mutiny. 

It  seemed  probable  that  it  would  be  a  long 
time  before  things  would  be  so  settled  that  we 
could  begin  our  work ;  but  instead  of  abandoning 
our  field.  Dr.  Butler  proposed  an  immediate  en- 
largement of  our  plans  by  occupying  the  chief 
cities  of  Oudh,  with  a  force  of  not  less  than 
twenty-five  foreign  missionaries.  He  declared 
that  this  had  been  his  plan  from  the  beginning. 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  67 


To  our  great  delight,  the  scheme  he  outlined  was 
accepted  by  the  Board,  and  we  were  informed  that 
a  strong  re-enforcement  to  our  number  would  be 
sent  out  the  following  year.  This  was  indeed 
cheering  news  to  us.  We  now  took  Oudh  into 
our  plans,  and  the  time  seemed  to  have  come  to 
arrange  for  an  immediate  occupancy  of  Lucknow, 
the  capital  of  the  province.  Dr.  Butler  was  a 
man  of  great  faith,  of  unflinching  courage,  and 
unbounded  energy ;  just  the  man  needed  at  that 
time.  A  cautious  or  a  timid  man  would  have 
hesitated,  and  the  opportunity  would  possibly 
have  been  lost  to  us,  to  lay  the  broad  foundations 
that  were  laid  for  our  work,  and  which  the  grand 
results  of  the  years  gone  by  have  abundantly  jus- 
tified. 

The  chief  commissioner  and  other  high  offi- 
cials of  Oudh  gave  us  much  encouragement  to 
begin  at  once  and  occupy  Lucknow.  Early  in 
September,  Dr.  Butler  and  Mr.  Pierce  left  for 
Lucknow,  where  they  found  things  even  more 
encouraging  than  they  anticipated.  They  sncm 
fixed  upon  a  location,  purchased  property,  and 


68         TvvEXTY-oxE  Years  in  Ixdia. 


began  the  preparation  of  residences  for  the  mis- 
sionaries who  were  to  conduct  the  work  of  the 
station.  On  the  way  down  from  the  hills.  Dr. 
Butler  and  Mr.  Pierce  spent  a  Sunday  in  Bareilly 
as  the  guests  of  Colonel  Troop,  Dr.  Butler's 
friend  in  Bareilly  before  the  mutiny  occurred.  Dr. 
Butler  settled  in  Bareilly  in  January-,  1857,  and 
opened  a  service  for  English  people  in  his  parlor. 
Colonel  Troop  was  officiating  as  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  station.  Colonel  Sibbald,  the  com- 
mandant, had  gone  for  a  tour  in  the  hills.  About 
the  middle  of  May,  Colonel  Troop  sent  word  to 
Dr.  Butler,  informing  him  that  the  native  troops 
could  not  be  relied  upon,  and  that  it  was  his 
opinion  that  they  would  mutiny  in  a  very  few 
days ;  that  they  were  only  waiting  to  mature  their 
plans.  He  said  he  was  about  to  issue  an  order 
for  all  foreign  ladies  and  non-combatants  to  leave 
at  once  for  Xaini  Tal,  where  they  would  be  com- 
paratively safe  if  the  sepoys  did  mutiny.  They 
were  all  in  a  very  exposed  condition  in  Bareilly, 
and  there  would  be  but  a  very  slight  hope  of  es- 
cape should  the  mutiny  actually  occur.    He  re- 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia.  69 


quested  Dr.  Butler  to  go  with  his  family  also,  and 
use  his  influence  to  allay  the  irritation  among  the 
ladies  his  order  would  be  likely  to  create.  These 
ladies  were  mostly  wives  of  officers  in  the  army 
and  civil  officers  of  go\  emment. 

People  generally  had  confidence  in  the  sepoys, 
and  could  not  be  made  to  think  they  would  mutiny 
and  turn  upon  them,  as  they  had  done  in  other 
places.  The  officers  and  families  often  become 
strongly  attached  to  the  men  with  whom  they 
are  so  intimately  connected.  There  is  a  feeling  of 
comradeship  awakened  in  militan,-  regiments  that 
is  very  marked  and  interesting.  It  is  so  every- 
where, but  it  was  especially  so  in  the  service  in 
those  days.  The  officers  had  led  their  men  in 
many  campaigns,  and  on  many  a  battlefield,  and 
they  had  never  failed  them.  It  was  not  strange 
that  it  was  hard  for  the  officers  to  believe  that 
their  men  would  tum  against  them,  protesting 
their  loyalty,  even  with  tears  in  many  instances, 
as  they  did,  when  the  ladies  and  children  were  be- 
ing sent  away  to  a  place  of  safety.  In  some 
cases  the  sepoys  came  to  their  officers  and  begged 


70        TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  India. 

them  not  to  send  away  their  families,  as  it  was 
a  reflection  upon  them;  this  when  th^  fully  ex- 
pected to  mutiny  in  a  ver\-  short  time.  It  is  not 
easy  for  Anglo-Saxons  to  realize  what  adepts  at 
fraud  and  deception  Orientals  are.  The  ladies 
sent  from  Bareilly  with  Dr.  Butler  met  the  com- 
manding officer  on  his  return  to  Bareilly  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountains,  about  a  dozen  or  fifteen 
miles  from  Xaini  Tal.  He  was  greatly  incensed 
towards  Colonel  Troop,  and  expressed  his  dis- 
pleasure in  terms  not  complimentar}-.  His  wife 
and  daughters  were  among  the  ladies  dispatched 
to  the  hills.  At  first  he  threatened  to  compel 
them  all  to  return,  but  he  hardly  dared  to  take 
the  responsibilitj"  of  anything  so  rash.  Then  he 
insisted  that  his  own  wife  and  daughters  should 
return,  but  he  finally  thought  better  of  it,  and 
relented.  He  stoutly  maintained  that  the  sepoys 
under  his  command  would  not  prove  false  to  their 
salt,  that  such  events  as  sending  away  the  people 
were  only  calculated  to  provoke  mutiny.  He, 
howe\er,  after  a  time,  went  on  his  way  to  Ba- 
reilly, and  the  ladies  and  Dr.  Butler  pursued  their 


Twe;nty-one  Years  in  India.  71 


retreat  to  the  refuge  in  the  mountains,  which  was 
to  serve  them  so  well  in  the  months  to  come. 

For  two  weeks  everything  remained  quiet, 
and  many  were  sure  the  danger  had  passed,  if, 
indeed,  there  had  been  any.  During  this  period, 
Colonel  Troop  was  the  subject  of  much  ridicule. 
Monday  morning,  June  ist,  the  usual  mails  did 
not  arrive,  and  much  alarm  was  felt  on  its  ac- 
count. The  next  morning  one  and  another  of  the 
officers  began  to  arrive,  many  of  them  without 
hats  or  coats,  and  all  more  dead  than  alive.  So 
the  storm  had  actually  burst  at  last. 

On  Sunday  morning,  May  31st,  the  sepoys 
mutinied,  and  fired  on  their  officers;  the  first  to 
fall  was  Colonel  Sibbald,  the  commanding  officer. 
Colonel  Troop  was  dressing  for  church,  when  one 
of  his  servants  rushed  in  and  told  him  to  flee  as 
the  mutineers  were  at  the  front  door  arranging 
to  set  fire  to  the  dwelling.  His  faithful  Sais, 
groom,  had  hastily  saddled  his  horse  and  had  him 
at  the  rear  of  his  house;  he  mounted  and  mnde 
his  way  round  the  eastern  end  of  tlie  city  and 
took  the  road  to  Naiiii  Tal,  where  he  at  length 


72        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

arrived  in  safety.  He  told  me  that  during  the  in- 
terval of  quiet,  before  the  outbreak  occurred,  one 
of  the  ladies  wrote  an  article  for  one  of  the  Eng- 
lish papers,  severely  criticising  him,  and  in  some 
strange  way  it  came  back  to  Naini  Tal  some 
months  afterward,  while  they  were  shut  up  there. 
The  lady  who  wrote  it  came  to  him  and,  with 
tears,  apologized.  He  begged  her  not  to  give  her- 
self a  moment's  distress,  that  it  was  God's  way 
of  sending  them  deliverance  from  an  awful  death. 

Dr.  Butler  and  Mr.  Pierce  preached  for  some 
of  the  regiments  stationed  at  Bareilly,  and  ar- 
ranged with  the  two  Presbyterian  chaplains,  one 
of  the  Forty-second,  and  the  other  of  the  Ninety- 
third  Highlanders,  for  me  to  come  down  and  take 
their  duties  for  a  month  and  give  them  a  change 
and  rest  for  this  time.  They  had  been  at  the 
taking  of  Lucknow  and  on  the  campaign  that 
followed,  ending  with  the  taking  of  Bareilly,  and 
all  through  the  hot  season  that  followed,  so  they 
much  needed  rest  and  a  change  to  Naini  Tal.  I 
was  very  glad  to  relieve  them,  as  it  would  give 
me  an  opportunity  to  look  the  ground  over  and 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  73 

see  what  could  be  done  towards  opening  our 
work  in  that  place.  This  was  to  be  my  station, 
as  soon  as  we  could  make  a  beginning.  I  had 
quarters  in  the  officers'  mess-house  of  the  Forty- 
second  Regiment. 

On  my  first  Sunday  I  had  four  services  to 
conduct.  Our  good  friend,  Colonel  Troop,  took 
me  in  his  carriage  around  to  each  place  where 
service  was  to  be  held,  and  made  me  acquainted 
with  the  routine  of  duties  T  was  to  perform,  and 
introduced  me  to  the  officers  commanding  the  dif- 
ferent regiments  with  which  I  was  expected  to 
hold  service.  The  last  service  of  the  day  was  held 
on  the  parade  ground  just  as  the  sun  was  setting. 
The  regiment  was  formed  up  as  a  hollow  square, 
with  one  side  open.  Here  I  stood  with  a  drum 
for  my  pulpit,  the  colonel  of  the  regiment  and 
other  mounted  officers  standing  about  me.  I  ad- 
dressed them  and  felt  that  much  of  the  Divine 
presence  attended  us,  and  I  think  many  felt  it 
good  to  be  there.  Many  years  afterward  my 
friend,  then  General  Troop,  told  me  that  that 
regiment  was  at  that  time  without  a  chaplain. 


74        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


and  that  a  petition  was  sent  in  for  my  appoint- 
ment as  such.  This,  he  said,  is  something  you 
never  knew  of,  nor  had  I  ex^er  heard  of  such  a 
thing.  While  I  was  in  Bareilly,  Dr.  Butler  re- 
turned from  Lucknow,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
introducing  him  to  our  colonel  of  the  Forty-sec- 
ond Regiment,  who  invited  him  to  dine  with  the 
officers  at  their  mess-room.  We  were  treated 
with  the  greatest  respect  and  courtesy,  and  I  be- 
came much  attached  to  several  of  the  officers  of 
this  famous  regiment,  known  as  the  "Black 
Watch." 

While  here  in  Bareilly  we  did  what  we  could 
to  arrange  for  the  reopening  of  our  work.  The 
magistrate  of  Bareilly,  Mr.  John  Inglis,  sug- 
gested that  we  should  apply  to  Government  for  a 
place  known  as  Cashmere  Kotee,  a  place  five  miles 
away  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  city  from  can- 
tonments, where  the  military  and  civil  offices  are 
located.  Cashmere  Kotee  had  been  a  palatial  resi- 
dence in  its  day ;  it  was  built  by  one  of  the  old- 
school  civilians  who  had  lived  there  in  the  style 
of  a  Nawab;  but  it  had  long  since  ceased  to  be 


TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  India.  75 

regarded  as  a  desirable  residence  on  account  of 
its  location,  and  so  had  passed  into  the  hands  of 
a  wealthy  native,  who  had  joined  the  mutineers 
and  had  been  executed,  and  the  estate  confiscated. 
Mr.  Inglis  proposed  that  we  apply  to  Govern- 
ment for  it  on  a  nominal  rental,  and  as  it  ulti- 
mately would  be  sold  at  auction,  we  might  bid  it 
in  and  obtain  it  at  a  ven,-  low  sum.  As  there  was 
a  village  belonging  to  the  property,  it  would  give 
us  an  annual  income  of  a  few  hundred  rupees  and 
quite  a  large  quantitj-  of  land  for  building  pur- 
poses. It  was  thought  it  would  serve  as  ad- 
mirably for  our  orphanages,  and  for  our  Mis- 
sion as  a  whole.  The  application  was  made,  and 
we  could  now  only  wait  the  accion  of  Government. 
Dr.  Butler  left  me  and  went  on  his  way  to  Xaini 
Tal. 

It  was  now  arranged  for  Mr.  Parsons  to  go 
down  and  begin  work  in  Moradabad.  while  I  was 
to  go  to  Bareilly  as  soon  as  our  location  could  be 
secured.  As  yet  we  had  no  reply  to  our  applica- 
tion for  Cashmere  Kotee.  Dr.  Butler  had  pur- 
chased property  as  a  site  for  our  Mission  in  Naini 


76         T\s-EXTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia. 

Tal.  A  fine  locaticm  was  secured,  consisting 
of  se  .  eral  acres  of  land  in  a  most  central  place, 
well  suited  for  our  schools  and  Church  purposes. 
There  was  a  house  mi  it,  but  as  the  name  indi- 
cated, the  chief  A-alue  of  the  location  did  not  con- 
sist in  the  residence;  it  was  very  appropriately 
called  "The  Ruins,"  but  with  some  slight  repairs 
it  made  a  comfortable  home  for  a  good  number 
of  years.  A  school  building  was  already  being 
built  and  nearing  completion,  and  plans  had  been 
prqjared  for  the  erection  of  a  Mission  church. 
Major  Ramsey,  Commissioner  of  Kumaon  and 
Gharwal,  who  was  a  warm  friend,  and  had  sub- 
scribed most  Uberally  for  it,  laid  the  comer-stone 
one  morning  in  October,  after  which  a  hj-mn  was 
sung,  and  a  prayer  offered,  for  a  special  blessing 
upon  this,  our  first  place  of  worship  erected  in 
India. 

Soon  after  this  event.  Dr.  Butler,  with  his 
family  and  Mr.  Pierce's,  left  us  to  take  up  their 
residence  in  Lucknow,  where  Mr.  Pierce  was  at 
the  time.  Joel  Janvier,  our  native  minister,  ac- 
companied them.  It  was  a  long  and  trj-ing  jour- 
ney, occup)-ing  about  four  days.   The  custom  was 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  77 

at  that  time  to  travel  at  night,  resting  during  the 
day,  and  our  only  way  of  getting  about  was  by 
Dooley  Dak.  A  dooley  was  a  cot  with  a  frame- 
work covered  with  light,  coarse  cotton  cloth ;  this 
was  carried  on  men's  shoulders.  Six  or  eight 
men  were  required  to  a  dooley,  with  one  man  to 
carry  a  torch.  When  a  journey  was  to  be  made  a 
man  was  called  from  the  Bazar  who  had  charge 
of  this  service,  under  the  direction  of  the  magis- 
trate of  the  district.  He  would  bring  a  book 
with  him,  in  which  we  would  write  our  orders  for 
bearers,  the  day  and  hour  we  wished  to  start.  The 
men  would  be  ready  at  every  Chaukey,  about  ten 
miles,  for  a  change.  In  this  way  we  could  make 
a  journey  of  fifty  or  sixty  miles  in  a  night.  This 
sort  of  travel  is  now  done  away  with,  the  railway 
having  taken  its  place.  We  soon  moved  into  the 
mission  house,  Mr.  Knowles  and  family  occupy- 
ing one  part,  while  we  occupied  the  other. 

I  preached  my  first  sermon  in  Hindustani  in 
the  temporary  place  of  worship  made  out  of  the 
sheep-house,  in  September,  1858. 

Mr.  Knowles  and  myself  made  several  preach- 


78         TwEXTY-oxE  Years  in  India. 

ing  tours  about  in  different  directions.  I  made 
a  journey  to  Almorah  and  made  the  acquaintance 
of  Rev.  J.  H.  Budden,  a  missionary  of  the  Lon- 
don ^vlissionary  Society,  with  whom  we  had  most 
pleasant  relations  for  many  years.  One  of  his 
daughters  became  the  wife  of  Dr.  Gray,  of  our 
^fission,  now  living  in  Xew  Jersey.  Another 
daughter,  Miss  Anna  Budden,  is  a  member  of  our 
Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and  has 
done  a  great  work  in  Eastern  Kumaon.  A  son 
of  my  old  friend,  Mr.  Anson  Budden,  holds  a 
high  and  responsible  position  under  Government 
in  the  educational  department.  A  year  before 
leaving  India,  I  had  the  pleasure  to  attend  the 
dedication  services  of  a  beautiful  church,  built 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  children,  as  a 
memorial  to  their  honored  father,  who  labored 
very  faithfully  for  more  than  forty  years  for  the 
people  of  these  mountains.  Mr.  Budden  was  a 
scholarly  and  able  missionary,  and  a  brother 
greatly  beloved.  Our  relations  were  \ery  inti- 
mate and  delightful  for  many  years.  I  felt  it  to 
be  a  great  honor  to  be  permitted  to  preach  the 
sermon  on  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  this 


TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  India. 


79 


beautiful  memorial  to  a  good  and  noble  mission- 
ary whom  I  loved  and  honored. 

To  return  to  my  narrative,  we  conducted  a 
service  on  Sunday  and  once  during  the  week  for 
European  soldiers  located  at  Naini  Tal,  and  vis- 
ited the  sick  in  the  military  hospital. 

By  the  end  of  the  year  the  walls  of  the  church 
were  up  ready  for  the  roof,  and  a  neat,  commo- 
dious school  building  was  completed  ready  for  use. 
In  January  we  went  down  to  Moradabad,  found 
Mr.  Parsons  and  family  living  in  a  tent  pitched 
under  a  magnificent  tree  with  wide  extended 
boughs,  thus  affording  protection  from  the  chilly 
night  air  and  the  heat  of  the  sun  at  mid-day. 

We  received  a  very  warm  welcome,  and  it 
seemed  as  though  we  had  entered  another  coun- 
try. In  Xaini  Tal  it  was  cold  and  rough,  but 
here  it  was  like  the  end  of  September  or  begin- 
ning of  October.  ^Ir.  Parsons  had  secured  the 
loan  of  a  tent  for  us,  and  we  were  soon  settled  in 
our  canvas  home,  and  greatly  enjoyed  the  change 
from  the  mountains  to  the  plains,  and  were  eager 
to  begin  the  work  to  which  we  had  been  so  long 
looking  forward. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Opening  Work  in  Moradabad  and  Bareilly. 

I  HAD  gone  down  to  IMoradabad  at  Dr.  But- 
ler's request,  to  assist  Air.  Parsons  to  get  settled, 
while  I  was  waiting  for  the  way  to  open  to  go  to 
Bareilly.  We  were  directed  to  secure  a  residence, 
either  by  renting,  or  purchase.  The  residences 
of  the  station  for  the  use  of  Europeans  were  all 
burned  in  the  mutiny ;  in  inost  instances  the  walls 
were  left  standing :  only  a  few  of  them  had  been 
repaired  up  to  the  time  we  arrived,  and  these  were 
occupied  by  military  officers.  It  seemed,  there- 
fore, quite  impossible  to  find  a  place  without 
building,  and  that  could  not  be  done  before  the 
hot  weather  would  set  in.  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Par- 
sons could  not  live  in  tents  at  that  time.  At 
length  we  succeeded  in  finding  a  place  that  might, 
we  thought,  be  made  habitable  with  some  repair- 
ing.   We  at  once  secured  the  place  and  set  about 

80 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  ix  India.  8i 

making  the  necessar}^  repairs.  While  we  were 
thus  engaged  a  man  came  in  to  see  us  who  lived 
about  twenty  miles  out  on  the  road  to  Garmakh- 
teser  on  the  Ganges.  He  said  he  represented  a 
class  of  people  who  lived  out  in  that  part  of  the 
district,  who  were  called  "Mazhibi  Sikhs,"  and 
that  they  all  desired  to  become  Christians.  The 
word  "Mazhibi"  pertains  to  religion;  strictly  it 
means  religious,  and  in  their  case  it  meant  that 
they  for  some  cause  had  embraced  the  Sikh  re- 
ligion. It  seems  probable  that  they  had  been  led 
by  some  of  their  Garus,  or  teachers,  to  embrace 
the  religion  of  Xanak.  This  man  who  came  to 
us  at  that  time,  told  us  this  story,  which  intensely 
interested  us.  He  said  that  before  the  mutiny 
their  Garu,  or  teacher,  heard  the  missionaries  of 
Futtigarh  preach  at  a  great  mela  on  the  Ganges, 
just  before  his  death,  which  occurred  during  the 
time  of  the  mutiny.  He  told  them  as  well  as  he 
could  about  what  he  had  heard,  and  then  said, 
"Some  day,  before  long,  the  missionaries  will  come 
to  Moradabad,  and  when  you  hear  that  they  have 

come,  go  to  them  and  do  what  they  tell  you."  We 
6 


82  TwE3fTY-OXE  Yea&S  LST  IkEIA. 

were,  as  can  be  imagined,  tfarilled  hj  his  stoiy, 
and  set  a  daj  when  we  woald  go  out  and  meet 
as  mai^  as  could  ocme  together  at  tbe  village  of 
Jua,  about  twenty  miles  out  on  the  road  to  the 
Ganges.  Upon  onr  arnral,  on  the  day  appointed, 
we  found  a  large  nnmber  of  people  assemUed  and 
waiting  for  ns,  and  eager  for  instruction  as  to 
what  they  must  do  to  become  Christians.  We 
saw  at  once  that  they  were  poor  and  very  igno- 
rant ;  beyond  this  we  knew  bat  very  little  of  diem 
at  that  time:  We  were  greatly  moved,  however, 
by  their  desire  to  ally  themsdves  to  us,  and-to  be 
instructed  as  to  what  they  must  do  to  be  saved. 
The  hoars  qpent  with  them  that  day  under  the 
diade  of  a  fine^  large  tree,  will  never  be  forgot- 
ten. After  ^leaking  to  them  for  some  time,  we 
told  them  that  we  would  have  a  seastm  of  prayer, 
and  we  explained  what  it  is  to  pray,  and  how  we 
can  come  to  God  and  speak  to  Him.  and  He  will 
hear  us  and  help  us,  though  we  can  not  see  Him. 

They  all  prostrated  themselves  before  God, 
after  the  manner  of  Orientals,  on  their  faces.  I 
led  in  prayer,  speaking  very  slowly  and  in  the 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  83 

most  simple  language.  I  soon  noticed  that  they 
were  trying  to  repeat  the  words  after  me.  I  then 
proceeded,  a  single  sentence  at  a  time,  waiting 
for  them  to  repeat  it  over  after  me.  In  this  way 
they  began  to  learn  the  language  of  prayer.  Re- 
peating it  after  us  helped  to  fix  their  attention, 
and  at  the  same  time  teach  them  the  language  of 
prayer.  We  afterwards  very  generally  adopted 
this  method  and  found  it  very  useful. 

Among  the  children  present,  I  noticed  a  little 
girl  who  was  very  fair  for  a  native ;  she  was  really 
a  beautiful  child,  very  bright  and  pleasing  in  her 
ways.  I  saw  her  grow  up  to  become  a  very  use- 
ful and  intelligent  woman.  I  taught  her  medicine, 
and  she  gained  great  honor  in  treating  the  people 
for  their  diseases  and  showing  them  what  they 
must  do  to  be  saved.  When  I  went  out  last, 
though  very  ill  and  nearing  her  end,  she  begged 
her  friends  to  bring  her  to  see  me.  I  found  her 
rejoicing  in  Christ  as  her  Savior.  A  few  days 
later  she  passed  within  the  veil  whither  Christ, 
who  was  very  precious  to  her,  had  gone  before. 

We  had  been  deeply  saddened  in  the  mutiny 


84        TwENTY-oxE  Years  in  Ixdia. 


days  by  the  cruel  death  of  the  missionaries  of 
Futtigarh,  four  ^milies  massacred  on  the  parade 
g^round  at  Cawnpore  by  order  of  Nana  Sahib, 
but  now  we  were  reaping  the  har\-est  of  their 
faithful  sowing.  The  truth  preached  by  them, 
that  may  have  seemed  to  fall  on  ver\-  steriie 
ground,  had  sprung  up  in  places  httle  thought  of, 
and  in  ways  unknown  to  man.  So  God  takes  care 
of  the  seed  His  serx-ants  sow.  Not  a  word  spoken, 
not  a  prayer  offered,  not  a  tear  shed,  not  a  life 
given  for  Him,  shall  be  in  \-ain- 

This  movement  among  these  people  was  hailed 
by  us  all  with  great  delight;  it  was  naturally 
thought  to  be  of  great  importance.  W'e  were 
aware  that  we  had  great  ignorance  to  deal  with, 
and  that  the  motives  of  these  people  were  mixed 
with  much  that  was  material  and  sordid ;  but  still 
it  seemed  e\-ident  that  there  was  much  about  it 
that  was  hopeful,  and  that  the  Holy  Spirit  was 
shedding  His  blessed  light  on  these  dark  minds. 
So  we  determined  to  watch  over  this  movement 
and  encoiu^age  it  in  every  way  in  our  power,  and 
at  the  same  time  be  on  our  guard  and  not  expect 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  85 

too  much  on  one  hand,  nor  be  too  suspicious  and 
doubting  on  the  other.  We  soon  learned  that 
they  did  not  bear  a  very  good  reputation;  they 
were  generally  Chaukadars,  or  watchmen.  They 
were  made  such  on  the  principle  "that  it  takes 
a  thief  to  catch  a  thief/'  or  perhaps  it  is  a  principle 
of  honor  among  thieves  in  India,  not  to  steal  from 
those  who  are  under  the  protection  of  one  of  their 
own  clan.  Later,  in  the  history  of  our  work,  we 
should  have  been  less  suspicious,  and,  perhaps, 
baptized  them  sooner  than  we  did.  I  was  at  that 
time  disinclined  to  administer  the  ordinance  with- 
out some  indication  of  the  fact  that  those  to  whom 
it  was  administered  had  some  good  degree  of  ap- 
preciation of  what  it  all  signified. 

In  India  the  circumstances  are  very  peculiar, 
and  baptism  has  a  significance  among  the  people 
that  it  does  not  have  with  us,  and  that  it  does 
not  have  among  any  other  people  in  the  world. 
They  may  think  as  they  will,  and  call  themselves 
by  whatever  name  they  please;  so  long  as  they 
are  not  baptized  their  relation  to  their  own  people 
remains  unchanged ;  but  as  soon  as  baptized,  they 


86        Twenty-one  Years  in  India, 


are  cut  ofif  from  their  own  people  and  known  as 
Christians. 

To  gain  this  much  is  an  advantage,  as  it 
places  them  under  our  care  where  we  can  instruct 
them  without  hindrance.  A  man  expresses  a  de- 
sire for  Christian  baptism ;  if  sincere,  as  we  must 
think  him  to  be  until  we  have  some  evidence  to 
the  contrary,  he  shows  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  his  heart,  and  so  justifies  the  administra- 
tion of  the  ordinance  to  him.  It  is  not  laid  down 
in  the  Scriptures  how  much  light  a  man  must 
have  to  be  entitled  to  receive  baptism.  This,  I 
think,  must  be  left  to  the  administrator  very 
largely.  It  is  clear  that  he  must  have  some 
knowledge  of  sin,  and  of  Christ  as  a  Savior  from 
it.  I  think  our  missionaries  in  India  are  sure  as 
far  as  this,  as  to  how  these  cases  are  to  be  treated. 
A  certain  degree  of  knowledge  and  conviction  is 
necessary,  but  people  asking  baptism  should  not 
be  held  off  too  long ;  but  baptizing  them,  we  must 
provide  for  their  instruction.  Here  lies  the  great 
problem  to  be  solved  in  India  to-day,  how  are  we 
to  provide  for  the  instruction  of  the  masses  who 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  87 

are  urgently  asking  Christian  baptism?  The 
urgency  of  the  case  is  sure  to  increase.  This  re- 
sponsibility is  upon  the  Church.  Will  she  meet  it  ? 
God  grant  that  she  may ! 

This  movement  among  the  Sikhs  brought  this 
subject  prominently  before  us :  When  may  baptism 
be  properly  administered  to  these  people?  It 
took  some  years  for  us  to  reach  a  settled  conclu- 
sion as  to  the  proper  mode  of  procedure  in  these 
cases.  It  seems  to  be  well  settled  now  in  the 
minds  of  our  missionaries. 

In  a  few  weeks  the  house  we  had  rented  for 
Mr.  Parsons  and  family  was  ready  for  occupancy, 
and  they  moved  in.  About  this  time  Dr.  Butler 
wrote,  asking  me  to  meet  him  in  Bareilly,  when 
we  had  to  make  a  journey  out  into  the  district 
of  about  twenty  miles  to  meet  Mr.  Inglis  to  see 
if  we  could  come  to  some  agreement  as  to  our 
occupying  Cashmere  Kotee.  We  found  him  in 
camp,  and  had  a  most  delightful  evening  with 
him.  Here  it  may  be  well  to  explain  that  Eng- 
lish officials  spend  the  most  of  the  cold  season, 
which  lasts  from  October  until  March  or  April, 


88 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia. 


out  in  camp,  living  in  tents  and  moving  about 
among  the  people.  They  spend  usually  a  day  or 
two  in  a  place,  then  moving  on  to  another  lo- 
cality. They,  in  this  way,  become  acquainted 
with  the  condition  and  needs  of  the  people,  hear 
their  complaints,  settle  their  disputes,  and  save  a 
great  deal  of  litigation  in  the  courts,  and  conse- 
quently expense  and  trouble.  This  kind  of  ad- 
ministration accords  with  the  ideas  of  the  people. 
I  have  seen  officers  settle  cases  in  five  minutes  on 
the  ground,  among  the  people,  that  would  have 
taken  months  to  settle  in  the  courts  in  the  usual 
way,  and  save  the  parties  a  great  amount  of 
travel,  expense,  and  worry.  The  Government  re- 
quires officers  to  be  out  among  the  people  in  this 
way  nearly  all  the  cold  weather,  and  makes  an 
extra  allowance  to  them  to  meet  expenses  in- 
volved. It  is  most  delightful  in  camp  in  India 
during  the  cold  season.  The  weather  is  almost 
uniformly  pleasant  and  not  so  cold  as  to  be  un- 
pleasant. Missionaries,  as  a  rule,  spend  as  much 
of  their  time  in  this  way  as  possible,  and  find  it 
exceedingly  profitable.      Many  of  our  native 


TwExTY-oxE  Years  in 


India. 


89 


Christians  live  out  in  the  district,  and  the  mis- 
sionaries can  only  visit  them  at  their  homes  dur- 
ing this  season  and  make  the  acquaintance  of  their 
heathen  neighbors,  hold  service  with  them,  and 
carry  the  knowledge  of  Christ  to  many  villages 
where  it  would  otherwise  not  be  known. 

Itinerating  is  a  very  important  department  of 
the  work,  and  if  more  of  it  could  be  done  it  would 
be  all  the  better.  The  ladies  of  the  Woman's  So- 
ciety are  prosecuting  this  kind  of  work  nowadays 
with  much  vigor  and  success. 

As  a  result  of  our  visit  to  Mr.  Inglis,  it  was 
settled  that  we  should  proceed  and  occupy  Cash- 
mere Kotee,  not  waiting  longer  for  a  reply  to 
our  application  to  the  lieutenant-governor  of  the 
Northwest.  Mr.  Inglis  felt  quite  safe  in  assum- 
ing that  our  application  would  be  successful,  and 
expressed  his  great  pleasure  that  we  were  to  open 
work  in  Bareilly  at  once.  I  returned  to  Morada- 
bad  and  proceeded  to  complete  arrangements  for 
removing  to  Bareilly.  In  a  few  days  our  belong- 
ings, in  charge  of  our  servants,  were  on  their  way 
to  our  new  home. 


90         TwENTY-oxE  Years  in  India. 

We  had  a  few  days  before  engaged  as  Khan- 
samah,  or  table  servant,  a  young  Mohammedan 
named  Peer  Bakhs.  He  was  the  servant  of  an 
Enghsh  family  of  our  acquaintance  in  the  time 
of  the  mutiny,  and  was  very  faithful  and  true  to 
them,  and  did  much  for  them  in  the  way  of  sav- 
ing their  property,  and  in  aiding  them  to  make 
their  escape.  He  lived  with  us  about  twelve  years, 
and  was  one  of  the  best  and  most  reliable  servants 
T  have  ever  known,  and  we  became  greatly  at- 
tached to  him.  His  health  failed,  so  that  he  could 
not  live  in  the  climate  of  the  mountains  where  our 
home  was,  and  we  were  obliged  to  let  him  return 
to  his  native  place  in  the  plains,  where  he  passed 
away  in  a  few  years.  He  never  publicly  professed 
faith  in  Christ,  but  I  believe  he  secretly  trusted 
in  Him  as  our  Savior  from  our  sins. 

We  left  on  the  evening  of  February  25th,  and 
arrived  at  our  destination  the  following  morn- 
ing. We  found  what  had  once  been  a  palatial 
residence,  in  the  center  of  a  large  plat  of  ground 
surrounded  by  a  ditch  and  tall  Indian  grass.  The 
whole  place  was  sadly  run  down  and  desolate  in 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  91 

the  extreme.  The  walls  were  blackened  and 
broken,  the  roof  had  fallen  in  over  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  building,  the  windows  were  broken, 
and  it  was  generally  in  a  most  dilapidated  and  un- 
inviting condition.  It  had  been  used  by  the  muti- 
neers and  by  other  bodies  of  native  soldiers^,  by 
the  police,  and,  last  of  all,  by  a  company  of  Euro- 
pean soldiers. 

It  showed  unmistakable  marks  of  age,  hard 
usage,  and  neglect.  We  succeeded  in  making  a 
room  or  two  habitable;  but  in  the  night  jackals 
roamed  at  will  through  it  in  spite  of  all  we  could 
do  to  the  contrary,  as  if  contesting  our  right  of 
occupancy.  Perhaps  they  did  not  know  of  our 
arrival,  for  they  never  troubled  us  again.  We 
learned  later,  fortunately  for  us,  that  the  place 
was  infested  with  a  large  and  very  venomous  black 
snake.  I  say  fortunately  for  us,  as  it  was  well 
that  we  did  not  know  this  at  the  beginning,  as 
we  had  quite  enough  already  to  dq^ress  and  dis- 
courage us  without  this.  About  one  year  before 
this  a  crisis  came  in  the  history  of  Bareilly.  Two 
armies  arrived,  one  from  the  East  under  Sir  Col- 


92         Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

I  in  Campbell,  the  other  from  the  West,  known  as 
General  Penney's  division,  though  the  general 
himself  had  been  killed  some  days  before  their 
arrival.  As  this  force  opened  fire  on  the  western 
gate  of  the  city,  Sir  Collin  responded  on  the  east 
side,  and  before  night  these  armies  fought  their 
way  through  the  city  and  met  in  the  grounds  of 
the  Government  College.  The  mutineers  were 
broken  and  fleeing  with  all  possible  haste  away  to 
the  jungles  towards  Nepal.  This,  of  course, 
must  mark  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  this  city  and 
section  of  the  country.  The  morning  of  the  26th 
of  February,  1859,  two  forces  met  here  as  before, 
one  from  the  East  and  the  other  from  the  West, 
approaching  along  the  same  lines  as  those  of  the 
previous  year.  The  party  from  the  West  was  a 
missionary  and  his  wife,  and  the  other  from  the 
East  was  a  native  minister,  his  wife,  and  two  chil- 
dren— a  son  and  daughter — in  an  ox  cart. 

No  booming  cannon  announced  our  arrival 
that  morning;  no  bugle  blasts  were  heard;  no 
flashing  sabers  or  bristling  bayonets  were  seen. 
It  was  a  day  of  small  things,  as  the  world  esti- 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  93 

mates  values,  and  yet  it  was  a  day  that  would 
mark  a  more  momentous  crisis  in  the  history  of 
Bareilly  than  any  that  had  come  to  her  before. 
The  time  will  come  when  the  historian  will  wish 
to  gather  up  the  items  of  this  day  as  they  oc- 
curred, and  it  will  be  recognized  as  marking  a 
new  and  better  era  to  all  this  province,  of  which 
Bareilly  is  the  capital.  It  was  a  momentous  hour 
to  us;  we  felt  that  we  were  this  day  commissioned 
as  ambassadors  for  Christ  to  this  great,  turbulent, 
and  wicked  city.  We  felt  Christ  very  near  us ;  the 
ground  on  which  we  stood  seemed  to  be  holy 
ground.  I  think  I  never  felt  the  grandeur  of  our 
high  and  holy  calling  as  missionaries  as  I  did  that 
hour.  I  shall  never  forget  that  day;  it  was  a 
marked  day  in  my  life.  I  felt  it  to  be  a  very 
great  honor  to  be  permitted  to  raise  the  Gospel 
standard  here.  But  we  had  much  to  do  to  get  a 
place  ready  to  shelter  ourselves  for  the  night,  but 
we  were  soon  settled  as  well  as  we  could  expect 
to  be  at  this  juncture  of  afifairs. 

I  think  it  was  the  day  of  our  arrival  that  a 
Sawar,  native  trooper,  came  dashing  into  our 


94         TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  India. 

compound — the  inclosure  surrounding  a  resi- 
dence— bearing  a  communication  from  the  Mag- 
istrate Sahib  John  Inglis,  in  which  he  expressed 
his  pleasure  to  know  that  we  had  arrived,  and  re- 
quested me  not  to  begin  preaching  in  the  city  for 
a  few  days  as  he  would  be  absent  in  camp.  He 
said  it  was  best  that  he  should  be  in  the  station 
when  we  opened  our  work  in  the  city,  as  the  peo- 
ple were  much  excited  and  might  give  trouble. 
They  were  ver\-  hostile  towards  the  Government 
and  Christians  generally  at  that  particular  time, 
and  it  was  feared  that  our  preaching  might  serve 
as  an  occasion  for  an  outbreak. 

So,  for  a  few  weeks,  we  were  occupied  in  re- 
pairing our  residence  and  in  visiting  the  villages 
about  the  city  within  a  distance  of  a  few  miles,  so 
that  they  could  be  reached  in  the  evening,  the 
cooler  part  of  the  day.  It  was  our  purpose  to  go 
into  the  cit>-  and  deliver  our  message  there  as 
soon  as  possible. 

In  a  few  weeks  we  learned  that  Mr.  Inglis 
had  returned  and  was  present  at  the  station.  The 
word  station  may  need  explanation;  it  is  gen- 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India. 


95 


erally  applied  to  the  portion  of  a  city  where  for- 
eigners live;  a  railway  depot  the  English  call  a 
station.  Out  of  the  Presidency  towns  they  gen- 
erally live  outside  the  city  in  a  section  set  apart 
for  the  troops  and  Government  offices,  and  the 
foreign  residents  generally;  this  section  is  called 
a  station  or  cantonments.  This  section  is  care- 
fully laid  out,  excellent  roads  are  made,  and  all 
is  under  strict  sanitary  regulations.  These  sta- 
tions in  India  are  usually  very  beautiful  and  at- 
tractive. 

India,  itself,  all  through  the  great  Gangetic 
valley,  is  very  beautiful.  It  is  a  vast  plain,  very 
fertile,  covered  in  certain  seasons  with  vast  fields 
of  wheat  and  other  grains  peculiar  to  the  coun- 
try. The  people  live  in  villages,  which  are  squalid 
and  uninteresting,  as  explained  in  the  first  chap- 
ter. But  there  is  usually  a  grove  of  trees 
near  by,  and  the  beautiful  palm-tree,  with 
its  feathery  top,  is  seen  in  almost  any  direction  to 
which  you  may  turn  your  attention. 

We  now  determined  to  make  a  beginning  in 
the  city.    It  contained  a  large  Moslem  popula- 


96         T^STXTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia. 

tion,  which  was  regarded  especially  fanatical  and 
turbtilent.  ^Many  of  this  class  had  been  tried  in 
the  courts  and  convicted  of  murder  in  the  mutiny, 
and  executed  or  banished  to  the  Kali-Pani,  the 
Andamans.  The  people  were  excited  and  ver>' 
bitter  in  their  feelings,  and  were  altogether  in  a 
bad  frame  of  mind- 
Just  at  this  time,  and  under  these  conditions, 
we  proposed  to  b^^  preaching  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  cit}-.  Xe.  er  had  such  a  thing  been  at- 
tempted before.  It  was  indeed  a  critical  under- 
taking, perhaps  more  so  than  we  at  the  time  sup- 
posed- What  would  be  the  effect  upon  the  peo- 
ple? How  would  they  look  upon  it,  and  how 
would  they  receive  it  at  this  time?  It  was  in  this 
way  the  oflScers  of  Government  looked  at  it,  and 
not  unnaturally  so,  as  they  knew  that  many  would 
think  that  the  Government  had  sent  us,  and  was 
going  to  compel  them  to  become  Christians. 

We  thought  it  the  only  thing  to  do,  and  were 
not  in  the  least  worried  as  to  results.  \\"e  felt 
that  we  were  not  our  own,  we  were  not  going  on 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  97 

our  own  business,  or  on  our  charges;  that  the 
work  was  the  Lord's,  and  we  were  going  at  His 
command.  We  proposed  in  His  name  to  set  up 
our  standard  in  the  city,  and  felf  we  were  in  the 
way  He  was  leading  us,  and  that  he  would  make 
us  victorious  over  all  our  enemies,  so  we  need  not 
fear. 


7 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Beginning  Preaching  in  the  City;  Baptism  of 
Our  First  Convert. 

We  soon  became  acquainted  with  a  number 
of  people  living  in  cantonments,  who  took  great 
pains  to  call  on  us  and  express  an  interest  in  our 
work.  The  influence  of  the  mutiny  was  fresh 
in  the  minds  of  all  at  this  time,  and  it  had  a  tend- 
ency to  lead  many  English  people  to  feel  a  deeper 
interest  in  missions  than  they  had  done  before. 
In  the  early  history  of  the  British  in  India  the 
only  thought  that  moved  them  seemed  to  be  gain. 
It  was  so  with  the  company  in  England,  and  it 
was  none  the  less  so  with  the  company's  repre- 
sentatives in  India.  Gradually  the  people  of  Eng- 
land awoke  to  the  fact  that  India  had  been  given 
to  them  for  a  higher  purpose  than  commercial  ad- 
vantage, and  that  a  responsibility  was  laid  upon 
them  to  give  the  people  of  this  great  empire  the 
Gospel.    At  first  the  company  refused  to  permit 

98 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  99 


missionaries  to  enter  the  country;  but  at  length 
it  was  compelled  to  give  way,  and  permit  them 
to  labor  for  the  people  without  restraint  or  inter- 
ference. 

Public  sentiment,  too,  in  England  demanded 
the  abolition  of  suttee — the  burning  of  widows 
with  the  dead  bodies  of  their  husbands — and  the 
patronizing  of  idolatrous  shrines  and  practices 
on  the  part  of  the  Government.  There  ha\  e  been 
all  along  among  the  representatives  of  the  East 
India  Company  some  excellent  Christian  men; 
but  they  were  comparatively  few  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  British  in  India.  The  majority  ig- 
nored all  responsibility  towards  the  people  in  a 
religious  sense.  One  effect  of  the  mutiny  was  to 
awaken  a  feeling  of  obligation  to  God  and  the 
people  of  this  great  country,  and  many  were  led 
to  feel  an  interest  in  religious  work  in  the  coun- 
try as  they  had  not  felt  it  before.  The  impression 
I  received  from  my  last  years  in  India  leads  me  to 
feel  that  among  English  officials  now  there  is  not 
the  interest  in  missionary  work  that  there  was 
when  we  began  our  work  immediately  after  the 


I 

1 


loo       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

mutiny.  There  seems  a  tendency  to  disparage 
missionary  work,  and  to  criticise  native  Chris- 
tians, that  is  more  manifest  in  certain  circles  of 
Enghsh  official  life,  than  was  the  case  years  ago. 
I  doubt  if  there  are  as  many  outspoken  friends  of 
missions  among  high  officials,  either  in  the  army 
or  in  the  civil  service,  as  there  were  in  the  years 
following  the  mutiny.  This  is  not  because  of  any 
lack  of  success  in  the  work,  but  from  a  lack  of 
interest  in  religion  generally.  I  would  not  have 
it  inferred  that  there  are  no  earnest,  devoted 
Christian  men  in  the  service  in  India  to-day;  I 
am  glad  to  say  I  am  sure  there  are  many  such; 
but  men  like  Sir  Henry  Ramsey,  Sir  Henry  and 
John  Lawrence,  Sir  Donald  McLeod,  and  Sir 
Herbert  Edwards,  are  not  very  often  met  with 
nowadays. 

Sometimes  I  think  it  may  be  that  some  great 
calamity  is  needed  to  bring  a  certain  class  of  high 
officials  of  India  nearer  to  God.  I  am  sure  God 
is  presiding  over  the  English  in  India,  and  only 
as  He  is  honored  will  they  prosper  and  escape 
His  judgments. 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  ioi 

To  return  to  our  narrative:  we  felt  the  time 
had  come  when  we  must  unfurl  the  banner  of  the 
Cross  of  Christ  in  the  heart  of  the  city  of  Ba- 
reilly.  Evening  is  the  best  time  generally  for 
Bazar  preaching,  so  we  arranged  to  begin  at  that 
time.  We  resolved  to  make  our  opening  in  the 
Chauk,  the  most  public  place  in  the  city.  We 
were  fully  conscious  of  possible  danger,  but  we 
thought  little  of  that;  we  were  most  anxious  to 
feel  assured  that  our  dear  Lord  was  leading  us, 
and  that  He  should  go  with  us,  and  stand  by  us  in 
our  effort  to  make  Him  known  to  the  bigoted 
and  wicked  people  of  this  large  city,  though  nat- 
urally no  worse  than  we  are,  and  whose  souls  are 
just  as  precious  as  our  own. 

Before  leaving  for  the  Bazar,  we  met  in  my 
study  for  a  season  of  prayer.  We  deeply  felt  our 
dependence  upon  God,  and  were  sure  He  would 
not  fail  us  in  this  time  of  need.  I  think  I  can 
truly  say  that  I  have  never  felt  Christ  so  near  me 
as  I  did  in  my  efforts  to  preach  Him  to  the  peo- 
ple under  such  circumstances  as  surrounded  us 
at  that  time.   I  have  felt  His  special  presence  and 


102       Twenty-one;  Years  in  India. 

support  in  all  efforts  to  make  Him  known  in  a 
way  that  has  made  the  fact  of  His  approval  per- 
fectly conclusive  to  my  mind.  After  prayer  we 
went  immediately  to  the  Chauk  where  we  pro- 
posed to  make  our  beginning  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord. 

The  city  of  Bareilly  is  long  and  narrow.  One 
main  street  runs  through  it  from  east  to  west. 
This  is  fully  three  miles  long.  About  midway  is 
what  is  called  the  Chauk ;  hut  this  is  not  a  square, 
but  the  street  for  some  distance  widens  out  to 
more  than  double  its  usual  width.  This  becomes 
the  official  and  business  center  of  the  city,  the 
more  important  public  buildings  are  located  here 
and  other  buildings  needed  in  the  government  of 
the  city.  This  place  is  always  crowded  with  peo- 
ple buying  and  selling  in  the  afternoons  and  early 
evening.  The  Banyas  spread  their  wares  and 
commodities  out  on  the  ground,  and  people  crowd 
about  to  buy.  It  is  a  busy,  noisy  place ;  the  air  is 
full  of  dust ;  not  a  very  good  place  to  preach,  one 
might  think,  but  the  people  are  here,  and  our  aim 
is  to  get  at  the  people.    Here,  at  one  end  of  the 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  103 

Chauk,  we  found  a  place  where  we  could  stand 
elevated  a  little  above  the  crowd. 

I  began  by  reading  John  iii,  16:  "Kyunki 
Khada  ne  jahan  ko  aisa  piyar  kiya  hai,  ke,  us  ne 
apna  iklauta  beta  bakhsha,  taki  jo  koi  us  per  iman 
lawe  halak  na  howe,  balki  hamesha  ki  zindagi 
pawe."  Attention  was  immediately  secured,  and 
all  business  ceased,  all  seemed  anxious  to  catch 
every  word,  and  the  closest  attention  was  paid 
to  all  we  said.  I  began  by  saying  something  like 
the  following,  as  near  as  I  can  now  recall :  "You 
will  wish  to  know  who  we  are,  and  what  we  have 
come  for?  Well,  I  will  tell  you.  We  are  not  Gov- 
ernment servants,  but  servants  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Savior  of  the  world.  We  have  come 
to  tell  you  about  Him.  He  says,  God  loved  us 
and  sent  Him  into  the  world  to  die  for  us  on  ac- 
count of  our  sins,  that  we  might  not  perish,  but 
have  eternal  life."  I  said:  "We  are  missionaries 
and  have  come  to  live  among  you  as  neighbors  and 
friends,  and  teach  you  what  you  must  do  to  be 
saved.  I  know  you  do  not  think  as  we  do,  but  it 
is  wise  to  inquire  and  try  to  find  the  true  way  to 


I04       TwEXTY-oxE  Years  in  India. 

hea\  en.  We  can  not  compel  you  to  become  Chris- 
tians, we  can  only  show  you  the  way ;  then  it  re- 
mains for  you  to  do  as  we  wish  you  to  do  or  not, 
and  the  responsibility  must  rest  upon  you.  If 
you  wished  to  go  to  Moradabad,  and  there  were 
two  roads  before  you,  and  you  could  not  tell 
which  one  to  take,  and  I  should  tell  you  to  take 
the  one  to  the  right,  and  you  should  take  the  one 
to  the  left,  saying,  'I  do  not  believe  the  Sahib 
knows,' — so  you  see  you  can  choose  which  road 
you  will  take,  ^^'ell,  you  go  a  long  way  and  be- 
come so  ver)-  tired,  and  find  out  that  you  have 
taken  the  wrong  road,  and  had  all  this  trouble  for 
nothing;  you  could  not  blame  me.  You  would 
say  the  Sahib  did  know,  and  I  ought  to  have  be- 
lieved him.  I  wish  I  had  believed  him,  it  would 
have  saved  me  so  much  trouble !  Well,  brothers, 
there  is  only  one  way  to  heaven  for  us  all;  now, 
do  you  not  believe  that?  I  know  you  do.  Now, 
where  is  that  way?  That  is  the  great  question. 
You  must  seek  to  know  the  truth,  for  the  truth 
will  stand,"  etc.  Then  I  said :  "You  know  a 
few  months  ago  Khan  Bahadur  Khan  thought  he 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  105 

was  a  great  man  and  called  himself  'Nawab  Sa- 
hib,' and  you  people  all  made  a  very  low  salaam, 
and  said,  'Nawab  Sahib !'  He  thought  he  would 
kill  all  the  Christians  so  that  there  would  not  be 
any  left  in  India.  He  sat  right  over  there,  and 
had  Judge  Robertson  and  Hay  Sahib  brought  be- 
fore him,  and  said  they  were  kafirs,  infidels,  and 
ought  to  die,  so  they  were  killed.  Where  is  Khan 
Bahadur  to-day?  He  is  out  in  the  jungles  and  is 
being  hunted  like  a  wild  beast,  and  very  likely  will 
be  caught  and  hanged,  as  you  all  know  he  ought 
to  be.  Well,  now,  in  a  few  months'  time  mission- 
aries have  come  here  and  are  preaching  in  this 
Bazar,  where  they  never  preached  before!  Well, 
friends  and  neighbors,  what  does  all  this  mean? 
I  will  tell  you  what  I  think  it  means.  It  is  this: 
God  is  against  these  people  who  have  been  mak- 
ing all  this  trouble,  and  trying  to  kill  all  the  Chris- 
tians in  the  country,  and  that  this  is  to  become  a 
Christian  country."  The  people  were  utterly 
amazed,  so  much  so  that  they  had  not  a  word  to 
say  in  reply.  Josq)h  then  spoke,  going  over 
much  the  same  ground  that  I  had  gone  over.  He 


io6       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


was  a  large  man  with  a  strong  voice.  He  was  a 
powerful  speaker  in  Hindustani,  and  the  people 
were  greatly  moved  hy  his  discourse. 

He  knew  the  natives  well,  the  terrible  scenes 
of  the  mutiny  were  fresh  in  his  mind,  and  he  fully 
entered  into  the  significance  of  the  time  and  place, 
and  spoke  with  tremendous  earnestness  and 
power.  His  manner  was  very  winning  and  pleas- 
ing. I  have  seen  men  approach  us  full  of  wrath, 
threatening  our  lives,  when  he  would  gently  put 
his  hand  upon  them  and  speak  to  them  so  gently 
and  kindly,  that  they  would  quiet  down  and  at 
length  become  fast  friends. 

Joseph  had  been  in  the  police  during  the  mu- 
tiny. The  Mission  he  was  connected  with  was 
broken  up,  and  he  sought  and  obtained  employ- 
ment under  Government.  When  the  outbreak 
was  suppressed  he  applied  to  Dr.  Butler,  in  Luck- 
now,  for  a  place  in  our  Mission  as  a  native  min- 
ister. He  was  gladly  employed  and  sent  to  as- 
sist me  in  Bareilly.  He  was  a  noble  man,  and 
happily  adapted  to  the  place  and  time.  I  shall 
never  forget  him.  I  loved  him  as  a  brother.  He 
watched  over  me  with  the  greatest  solicitude  when 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  ix  India.  107 

speaking  in  the  Bazars.  He  always  took  his  stand 
verj-  close  to  me,  and  if  any  one  approached,  he 
was  sure  to  place  himself  between  me  and  the 
person  coming  toward  me.  I  think  he  feared  I 
might  be  assassinated,  and  he  would  permit  no 
one  to  come  to  me  without  first  passing  him.  On 
this,  our  first  attempt  at  preaching  in  the  Bazar, 
we  were  treated  respectfully  and  kindly. 

Several  gathered  about  us  for  conversation, 
after  our  preaching  was  concluded.  Some  of 
them  accompanied  us  some  distance  on  our  way 
home,  asking  us  many  questions,  which  we  were 
glad  to  answer. 

It  may  be  proper  for  me  now  to  consider  very 
briefly  the  subject  of  street  preaching  in  India. 
The  people  spend  much  of  the  time  in  the  open 
air.  The  temples  are  not  for  congregations  to 
assemble  in  for  worship,  as  with  us.  but  for  the 
gods  and  officiating  priests.  The  people  congre- 
gate outside.  If  there  is  anything  for  them,  it 
is  spoken  to  them  out  in  the  open  air.  So  preach- 
ing in  this  way  is  perfectly  in  accord  with  their 
ideas  and  practices. 


io8       TwENTY-oxe  Years  in  India. 


It  is  the  only  way  we  could  get  access  to  the 
people  in  those  days.  Much  of  what  was  said 
was  only  imperfectly  understood,  but  something 
was  lodged  in  the  hearts  of  our  hearers,  and  a 
little  leaven  is  sufficient  to  leaven  the  whole  lump. 
I  am  strongly  in  favor  of  street  preaching  in 
India.  I  am  just  as  much  in  favor  of  schools 
for  the  young,  and  anything  that  will  enable  us 
to  reach  the  people  with  the  Gospel.  In  our  mis- 
sion we  have  never  had  any  special  variance  as  to 
methods,  but  ha\-e  been  ready  to  use  any  means 
that  promised  the  most  good.  Public  preaching 
in  the  Bazars  needs  to  be  conducted  with  discre- 
tion and  tact.  Many  persons  are  inclined  to  raise 
questions  to  test  the  skill  or  knowledge  of  the 
speaker;  many  are  very  fond  of  argument,  but, 
as  a  rule,  it  is  not  best  to  argue  very  much.  If 
you  engage  in  an  argument  they  will  almost  in- 
variably claim  to  have  the  best  of  it;  it  is  better 
to  ask  them  to  call  upon  you  at  your  residence, 
when  you  can  talk  with  them  to  much  better  ad- 
vantage. Questions  that  are  evidently  sincere 
may  be  answered  in  a  few  words,   A  kind,  gentle 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  109 

manner  helps  one  very  much.  Impatience,  or 
petulance,  must  not  in  any  case  be  shown,  how- 
ever provoking  they  may  be.  There  is  not,  per- 
haps, as  much  Bazar  preaching  now  as  in  former 
years,  but  that  it  is  a  powerful  means  for  the 
spread  of  Gospel  truth  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
We  continued  to  preach  at  some  point  in  the  city 
nearly  every  evening.  At  one  time  we  were  in- 
vited to  preach  in  front  of  the  Kotwali,  police 
headquarters.  We  found  a  carpet  spread  and 
chairs  set  out  for  us.  After  the  service,  the  head 
officer  accompanied  me  some  distance  on  the  way 
to  our  home ;  he  asked  me  if,  in  our  preaching,  we 
could  not  avoid  using  the  name  of  our  Lord,  as 
the  mere  mention  of  His  name  was  an  offense  to 
the  Mohammedans?  He  was  himself  a  Moham- 
medan, and  a  native  of  Constantinople.  I  rqjlied, 
"Suppose  you  were  to  suppress  the  name  of  the 
magistrate  when  he  gives  you  an  order  for  the 
people  of  the  city,  because  the  badmashes,  crim- 
inal classes,  dislike  him,  what  would  he  do?"  "O !" 
said  he,  "he  would  punish  me,  of  course;"  then 
added,  "I  see  how  it  is  you  can  not  do  as  I  have 


no       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


asked  you."  He  added :  "I  would  like  to  help  you." 
1  replied,  "All  we  ask  is,  if  the  people  should  use 
violence  towards  us,  you  should  protect  us  just 
as  you  would  anybody  else,  so  long  as  we  are 
within  our  rights.  Otherwise,  it  would  be  better 
not  to  notice  us.  If  the  police  were  to  notice  us 
particularly,  the  people  would  think  that  the  Gov- 
ernment had  sent  us." 

As  we  were  preaching  one  evening  in  this 
densely  crowded  place,  the  Chauk,  my  attention 
was  attracted  to  a  young  man  standing  near  by 
who  seemed  deeply  interested  in  what  was  being 
said.  At  the  close  of  our  preaching  I  sought  him 
out  and  spoke  with  him.  I  asked  him  if  he  had 
ever  heard  the  preaching  before?  He  replied, 
that  he  had  not  until  on  some  fonner  occasion 
he  heard  us  in  some  other  part  of  the  city.  I 
asked  him  what  he  thought  of  it  all ;  if  he  thought 
it  to  be  the  truth,  and  was  interested  in  it?  He 
replied  that  he  greatly  desired  to  know  more 
about  what  he  had  heard.  I  asked  him  to  go 
home  with  us,  which  he  did,  and  we  spent  a  long 
time  in  conversation  with  him.    We  learned  that 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  hi 


he  belonged  to  a  sect  of  Mohammedans  called 
"Purannamis,"  who  claim  to  be  seekers  after 
truth;  that  he  had  practiced  a  great  variety  of 
austerities  in  hope  of  finding  rest  for  his  soul,  but 
all  to  no  avail. 

We  very  earnestly  prayed  that  God  would 
give  us  this  young  man.  He  came  to  all  our 
services  at  the  Mission  House,  and  was  often  at 
our  preaching  in  the  Bazars  of  the  city.  His  in- 
terest seemed  constantly  to  deepen,  and  we  were 
more  and  more  interested  in  him.  We  became 
fully  satisfied  that  he  was  a  true  seeker  after  the 
sah'ation  of  his  soul.  In  a  few  months,  one  Sun- 
day, he  very  earnestly  requested  baptism,  and 
was  very  desirous  to  have  it  administered  to  him 
on  that  very  day.  I  was  very  anxious  to  have 
him  fully  understand  the  importance  of  the  step 
he  was  about  to  take.  I  explained  to  him  that 
he  must  expect  persecution,  and  be  ready  to  suf- 
fer the  loss  of  all  things,  even  life  itself,  if  neces- 
sary, for  Christ's  sake;  I  found  that  he  seemed 
to  have  considered  it  in  all  of  its  jihascs,  and  we 
could  not  doubt  his  sincerity.    So  I  told  him  to 


112       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


wait  until  the  next  Sunday,  and  if  he  were  of  the 
same  mind  then,  I  would  baptize  him.  It  be- 
came known  very  soon  that  he  was  to  be  baptized 
on  the  next  Sunday,  and  his  Mohammedan 
friends  were  immediately  up  in  arms,  and  resorted 
to  every  means  in  their  power  to  prevent  it.  They 
ofifered  him  money  and  lucrative  service  on  the 
one  hand,  and  threatened  ostracism  and  persecu- 
tion on  the  other,  but  neither  moved  him  from 
his  purpose  publicly  to  acknowledge  Christ  as  his 
Lord  and  Master.  The  next  Sunday  evening, 
July  24,  1859,  I  baptized  this  young  man,  whose 
name  was  Zhur-ul-Haqq,  who  became  a  most  use  - 
ful native  minister,  and  our  first  native  presiding 
elder.  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  more  fully 
of  him  as  to  this  part  of  his  life  in  the  next 
chapter. 

I  will  now  proceed  to  consider  the  question 
recently  raised.  Was  Zhur-ul-Haqq  the  first  con- 
vert baptized  in  our  Mission  in  India?  I  think, 
beyond  any  doubt  whatever,  that  he  was,  and  my 
reasons  for  this  opinion  are  as  follows:  At  the 
time  this  question  was  raised  in  India,  it  was  said 


REV.   ZAHUR    UL  HAQQ. 
First  Niitivc  C'l.iivci  1,  anil  I'rcsi.llnj;  KMcr  of  il,,:  Mcl  li. Iisi  (  liun  1,  M 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  113 


that  probably  Maria,  the  young  woman  of  whom 
Dr.  Butler  speaks  in  his  book,  "The  Land  of  the 
Veda,"  who  was  killed  on  the  31st  of  May,  1857, 
by  the  sepoys  in  his  compound,  was  the  first  bap- 
tism. She  did  probably  join  our  Church ;  she  was 
a  member  of  Dr.  Butler's  class,  conducted  by  him 
during  the  weeks  of  his  residence  in  Bareilly,  be- 
tween January  and  the  middle  of  May,  when  he 
left  for  Naini  Tal.  But  it  does  not  seem  proba- 
ble that  he  baptized  her ;  had  he  done  so,  he  would 
have  been  likely  to  mention  it.  I  have  heard  him 
on  different  occasions  speak  of  Zhur-ul-Haqq  as 
our  first  baptism.  He  made  the  same  statement 
again  and  again,  in  published  articles  in  differ- 
ent periodicals.  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  as 
to  his  view  of  this  subject.  I  have  recently  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Mrs.  Butler,  who  says  that 
Dr.  Butler  did  not  baptize  Maria,  and  that  he  al- 
ways said  that  Zhur-ul-Haqq  was  our  first  bap- 
tism. Bishop  Thoburn  says  in  his  book,  "India 
and  Malaysia,"  page  266:  "The  word  Mazhib 
means  religion,  and  the  term  Mazhabi  is  simply 

an  adjective  form,  the  whole  meaning  that  these 
8 


114       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

people  are  Sikhs  by  religion,  if  not  by  race.  They 
themselves  began  coming  to  the  missionaries  at 
Moradabad,  and  a  few  of  them  were  baptized 
early  in  1859,  or  possibly  even  before  the  close 
of  1858." 

I  was  on  the  ground  and  know  what  trans- 
pired more  fully  than  any  person  now  living. 
These  people  first  came  to  our  notice  in  January 
of  1859,  so  none  of  them  could  have  been  bap- 
tized in  1858.  I  spent  the  most  of  January  and 
February  of  that  year  in  Moradabad.  A  deputa- 
tion came  in  to  Mr.  Parsons  a  week  or  so  before 
I  arrived ;  I  know  he  did  not  baptize  any  of  them, 
for  he  was  not  ordained.  Later,  when  he  desired 
to  baptize  some  of  them,  Dr.  Butler  desired  me 
to  go  over  to  Moradabad  from  Bareilly  and  bap- 
tize them,  if  I  thought  best,  as  he  had  told  Mr. 
Parsons  that  it  would  be  contrary  to  the  rules  of 
the  Church  for  him,  being  unordained,  to  admin- 
ister the  ordinance.  1  personally  know  that  none 
of  these  people  had  been  baptized  prior  to  my 
visit  to  Moradabad  in  ]\Iay.  when  I  went  at  Dr. 
Butler's  request.   I  thought  it  best  to  defer  their 


TwEXTv-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia.  115 

baptism,  and  so  returned  to  Bareilly  without  hav- 
ing baptized  any  of  them. 

It  is  certain  that  none  of  the  Sikhs  were  bap- 
tized before  July  the  24th,  of  1859,  the  date  of 
Zhur-ul-Haqq's  baptism.  I  think,  therefore,  that 
it  is  a  fact,  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  that  his 
was  our  first  baptism.  It  may  not  be  a  matter  of 
any  very  great  importance,  but  as  an  item  of  his- 
tory it  is  desirable  to  know  the  facts  in  the  case. 

After  Zhur-ul-Haqq's  baptism,  I  baptized  sev- 
eral of  these  Sikhs,  I  should  think  as  many  as 
fifteen  or  twenty.  Among  them  were  two  young 
men,  brothers.  Main  Phul  and  Gurdial  Sing,  in 
whom  we  became  much  interested  from  the  first. 
They  came  to  us  from  their  village,  and  asked  us 
to  give  them  some  work  so  that  they  could  earn 
enough  to  get  their  bread,  and  at  the  same  time 
learn  to  read.  They  were  very  simple-minded, 
evidently  sincere,  honest,  and  much  in  earnest. 
Main  Phul  remained  with  me  for  some  time,  and 
at  length  became  a  teacher,  and  was  sent  to  labor 
among  his  own  people,  where  he  became  verj- 
useful. 


ii6       TwENTY-ON^  Years  in  India. 


Gurdial  went  with  Brother  Parker,  and  was 
very  useful  to  him  in  Bijnour  and  Moradabad. 
They  are  both  dead,  as,  in  fact,  most  of  those 
who  became  Christians  in  the  first  years  of  our 
Mission,  are.  Soon  after  his  baptism,  Main  Phul 
asked  permission  to  bring  his  wife  from  their  vil- 
lage, who  was  very  wild  and  unmanageable  at  first, 
but  she  improved  rapidly  under  the  care  of  the 
ladies  of  the  Mission,  and  in  time  she  became  use- 
ful as  a  teacher  among  the  women  in  the  villages. 
She  died  young,  but  in  her  dying  moments  she 
remembered  the  ladies  who  had  so  patiently  and 
lovingly  taught  her  when  so  very  ignorant,  and 
among  her  last  words  were  messages  of  love  to 
them. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


First  Arrivals  from  Home,  and  Opening  Work 
in  Budaon. 

The;  baptism  of  Zhur-ul-Haqq  naturally  pro- 
duced a  deep  impression  and  created  a  good  deal 
of  excitement  in  the  city,  especially  among  Mo- 
hammedans. We  often  received  calls  from  them, 
evidently  largely  from  motives  of  curiosity,  when 
many  questions,  like  the  following,  were  asked : 
"Do  you  require  those  who  become  Christians  to 
eat  pork  and  drink  wine  ?"  Then  they  were  quite 
sure  to  ask  the  following:  "You  say  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  Son  of  God;  has  God  a  wife?" 

One  Sunday  a  party  of  Mohammedans  were 
present  in  our  service.  Joseph  Fieldbrave  was 
preaching,  when  an  unusual  influence  came  upon 
us;  it  was  a  kind  of  a  thrill,  almost  like  an  elec- 
tric shock,  when  one,  with  a  cry,  rushed  from  the 

room,  the  others  following  in  hot  haste.  They 

117 


ii8       TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia 

evidently  feared  that  some  influence  might  come 
upon  them  that  would  make  them  Christians.  1 
can  not  explain  what  it  was  that  we  felt  at  that 
time.  Only  on  a  few  occasions  in  my  life  have  I 
felt  an}'thing  like  it.  I  recall  an  occasion  in  our 
Enghsh  service  in  Naini  Tal,  when  a  thrill  seemed 
to  pass  through  the  congregation,  and  a  singular 
feeling  of  awe  seemed  to  rest  upon  us  all.  I 
can  not  account  for  this  certainly  unusual  phe- 
nomenon on  natural  principles.  My  feeling  was 
at  the  time  that  it  was  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  I  see 
no  reason  now  to  think  otherwise. 

The  conversion  of  Zhur-ul-Haqq  was  a  ven.- 
happy  and  inspiring  event  to  us ;  it  seemed  given 
to  us  at  that  time  to  encourage  us  in  our  work, 
and  it  seemed  an  assurance  that  we  might  expect 
immediate  fruit.  Zhur-ul-Haqq  was  a  very  gen- 
tle and  unassimiing  young  man.  and  not  at  all  in- 
clined to  put  himself  forward.  The  natives  of 
India  are.  as  a  rule,  good  talkers,  graceful  in  their 
movements  and  gestures,  and  many  have  consid- 
erable natural  ability  for  public  address.  They 
are,  as  a  rule,  fond  of  discussion.,  and  never  seem 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India,  119 


to  tire  of  hair-splitting  and  speculation.  I  said  to 
some  Pundits  who  were  teaching  in  some  of  our 
schools,  "I  am  going  to  a  certain  Mela  next 
week."  They  replied,  '"Let  us  go  with  you."  I  an- 
swered, "I  am  going  to  preach,  and  if  you  go 
with  me  perhaps  you  will  assist  me."  They  re- 
plied, "We  will,  if  you  order  us  to  do  so."  I  said, 
"Certainly  not,  until  you  find  Christ  and  love 
Ilim." 

Zhur-ul-Haqq  seemed  reticent  and  diffident, 
and  I  did  not  like  to  ask  him  to  speak  in  a  public 
place  in  Bareilly,  as  there  was  a  good  deal  of  ex- 
citement in  the  city  over  his  baptism ;  and  yet  I 
was  most  anxious  to  have  him  make  a  beginning, 
for  I  felt  sure  God  designed  that  he  should  be  a 
preacher.  I  had  occasion  to  visit  Shahjehanpore, 
between  forty  or  fifty  miles  distant.  I  resolved 
to  take  him  with  me  and  have  him  speak  in  some 
of  the  villages  on  the  way.  I  thought  it  would 
be  less  trying  for  him  to  begin  in  this  way  than 
in  the  city  where  he  was  well  known.  It  so  hap- 
l)ened  that  the  first  place  where  it  became  con- 
venient for  us  to  preach  was  Tilhur,  and  upon  ar- 


I20       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


riving  there  I  noticed  it  was  Bazar  day;  that  is, 
a  day  in  the  week  when  all  who  buy  and  sell  con- 
gregate for  trade.  So  there  was  a  great  crowd  of 
people  assembled  from  the  country  round  about. 
To  my  astonishment,  I  learned  that  this  was 
Zhur-ul-Haqq's  native  place.  Being  well  known 
here,  and  his  family  being  one  of  prominence, 
the  excitement  over  his  having  become  a  Christian 
was  greater  here  than  in  Bareilly  even.  He  told 
me  that  a  few  days  before  he  had  come  to  visit 
his  family,  but  they  denounced  him,  and  he  barely 
escaped  with  his  life.  I  concluded  it  was  not  de- 
signed that  the  cross  should  be  lightened  for  him, 
so  after  preaching  myself,  I  encouraged  him  to 
tell  the  people  how  he  came  to  become  a  Christian. 
He  began  by  relating  the  story  of  his  early  life 
among  them ;  told  them  how  much  he  had  suf- 
fered in  hope  of  finding  rest  for  his  mind.  Then 
he  told  them  of  his  hearing  the  preaching  in  the 
Bazar  in  Bareilly,  and  how  he  had  come  to  know 
Christ  as  his  Savior  from  his  sins,  and  what  peace 
and  comfort  he  now  enjoyed.  He  invited  them 
to  accept  Christ,  as  He  is  the  only  one  who  can 


TwENTY-oxK  Years  ix  India.  121 


forgive  sin  and  take  it  away  from  the  heart  and 
give  rest  and  peace.  He  assured  them  that  if 
they  would  believe  in  Him  He  would  save  them 
also,  and  they  would  not  need  to  go  on  pilgrim- 
ages to  Mecca,  or  to  Kedarnath  or  Badrinath,  but 
He  would  come  into  their  hearts  and  make  them 
good  and  happy.  It  was  a  beautiful  testimony, 
simply  and  appropriately  told.  I  felt  no  more 
fears  about  his  future  as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ.  For  thirty-eight  years  he  lived 
a  bright  example  of  the  power  of  grace  to  save, 
and  preached  the  Gospel  of  his  blessed  Lord 
through  all  that  long  period  with  patience,  tact, 
and  love.  We  have  had  none  among  our  native 
ministers  more  useful,  loved,  and  honored  by  all 
he  came  in  contact  with,  not  only  among  Chris- 
tians, but  among  all  classes  of  the  native  com- 
munity. 

Our  first  annual  meeting  was  held  in  Septem- 
ber of  this  year — that  is,  1859 — in  Lucknow.  We 
had  made  a  beginning  in  Naini  Tal,  Moradabad, 
Bareilly,  and  Lucknow.  W'e  were  cheered  by 
the  prospect  of  receiving  large  re-enforcements 


122       Twj;nty-one  Years  in  India. 


from  home,  and  also  by  the  fact  that  it  would  not 
be  with  them  as  it  had  been  with  us ;  they  would 
find  homes  in  readiness  and  work  prepared  for 
them.  They  need  not  wait,  or  be  in  any  doubt  as 
to  where  their  work  might  be.  That  annual 
meeting  was  indeed  a  memorable  one.  The  fear- 
ful storm  that  had  swept  over  the  land,  in  the 
terrible  mutiny  of  the  native  army,  had  gone  by ; 
the  morning  of  a  new  and  brighter  day  had 
dawned  for  India.  Our  great  work  was  opening- 
full  of  promise.  We  were  all  young,  full  of  hope 
and  inspiration,  having  only  one  aim,  to  preach 
Christ  and  lead  the  people  to  Him. 

The  brethren  who  came  at  this  time  were  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Downey,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Waugh,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Parker,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judd,  and  IVIr.  Tho- 
burn.  now  Bishop  Thoburn.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baume 
had  arrived  a  short  time  before.  This  was  a  nota- 
ble company.  Bishop  Thoburn,  Mrs.  Parker,  and 
Dr.  Waugh  are  all  that  are  still  living.  All  the 
others  have  passed  to  their  reward  on  high. 
Bishop  Parker  was  the  last  to  go,  after  a  long 
career  of  very  great  usefulness.    He  had  about 


TwEXTY-ONE  Years  ix  Ixdia. 


123 


forty-three  }  ears  of  distinguished  ser\-ice  in  the 
Mission,  Mrs.  Parker  is  still  doing  heroic  work 
in  the  field.  Dr.  Waugh  retired  after  thirty-five 
years  of  faithful  and  effective  ser\-ice. 

Bishop  Thobum  is  still  in  the  effective  ranks, 
and  is  well  known  through  our  whole  Church, 
and  is  everywhere  honored  and  revered  as  a  model 
Missionary  Bishop.  One  of  that  party,  Brother 
Downey,  passed  away  in  a  few  days  after  the 
close  of  our  session.  I  was  returned  to  Bareilly, 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Downey  were  to  have  been  our 
colleagues.  Brother  Downey  seemed  to  us,  as 
we  met  him  in  our  sessions,  a  \ery  charming 
young  man,  and  we  anticipated  great  pleasure  in 
having  him  with  us  as  our  fellow-worker  in  the 
great  field  we  saw  opening  before  us  in  Bareilly. 
His  death  was  a  great  sorrow  to  us.  In  a  few 
weeks,  Mrs.  Downey  came  to  live  with  us  and 
to  take  the  work  planned  for  her  husband,  as  far 
as  she  could  do  it. 

She  was  a  \ery  lovely  character,  highly  ac- 
complished, and  wholly  consecrated  to  the  work. 
Afterward  she  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Thobum, 


124  TVN'EXTY-OXE  YeaRS  IX  IxDiA. 

then  of  Xaini  Tal,  and  died  about  a  year  or  a 
little  more  aftenvard.  Her  career  in  the  mission 
work  she  loved  with  all  her  heart  was  brief,  but 
she  left  an  influence  behind  her  that  has  been  felt 
by  many  hearts  along  down  the  years  that  have 
intervened.  We  were  just  beginning  our  boys' 
orphanage,  and  she  was  placed  in  charge  of  it. 

Towards  the  end  of  December,  Mrs.  Hum- 
phrey and  myself  took  our  camp  equipage,  which 
consisted  of  two  excellent  tents,  with  utensils  for 
our  housekeeping,  and  set  out  on  an  itinerating 
tour  with  a  view  to  visiting  the  city  of  Budaon, 
the  center  of  a  large  district  of  that  name,  lying 
between  Bareilly  and  the  Ganges,  to  the  south. 
On  our  way  we  visited  and  preached  in  several 
towns,  where  we  now  have  large  Christian  com- 
munities, but  where  we  did  not  find  any  who  had 
heard  the  name  of  our  Lord  even  at  that  time. 
Crowds  listened  to  our  preaching  and  seemed  in- 
terested; but  O!  how  dense  the  darkness  that  en- 
shrouds their  minds!  It  seems  depressing,  and 
even  appalling,  at  times,  as  we  come  in  close  con- 
tact with  the  people.    Arriving  at  Budaon,  we 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  125 


were  most  warmly  welcomed  by  a  few  native 
Christians  who  had  survived  the  mutiny,  and  the 
English  magistrate  of  the  district.  All  earnestly 
urged  our  opening  work  in  Budaon  at  once.  The 
opportunity  to  purchase  an  unfinished  house  and 
compound  in  an  excellent  location,  on  very  favor- 
able terms,  seemed  to  me  an  indication  that  we 
should  not  fail  to  improve  our  opportunity  with- 
out delay.  The  lieutenant-governor  of  the  North- 
west Provinces,  with  his  camp,  arrived  in  time 
to  spend  Christmas  there.  I  wrote  to  Dr.  Butler, 
explaining  the  situation  to  him,  and  urged  him 
to  come  over  and  spend  a  few  days  with  me, 
which  he  did  very  gladly.  The  Nawab  of  Ram- 
pore  came  also  with  an  immense  retinue  to  visit 
the  Governor.  For  a  few  days  matters  were  very 
lively  and  gay.  The  Governor's  camp  was  a  very 
canvas  city.  India  is  a  great  country  for  camp 
life,  and  all  officials  from  the  Governor-General 
down,  if  possible,  spend  a  considerable  part  of 
the  cold  season  in  camp.  We  have  the  best  tents, 
I  imagine,  in  the  world.  The  camp  of  the  Gov- 
ernor is  a  beautiful  sight.    The  fine  large  tents 


126       TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia, 

are  pitched  in  order,  with  streets  running  through 
between  them.  On  Christmas  day  we  had  serv- 
ice in  the  Governor's  magnificent  Durbar  tent. 
The  Governor,  and  all  his  secretaries  and  offi- 
cers, with  all  the  residents  of  the  station,  were 
present,  making  a  congregation  of  fort}"  or  fifty 
people.  Dr.  Butler  preached  an  excellent  sermon. 
In  the  evening  we  dined  with  the  Governor  in  his 
spacious  dining-tent.  The  Governor  and  several 
of  his  suite  made  handsome  donations  to  our  Mis- 
sion. The  magistrate  of  Budaon  gave  us  rupees 
500  to  assist  in  beginning  our  work  here.  It 
was  soon  arranged  that  I  should  remove  from 
Bareilly  and  open  the  work  here.  This  neces- 
sitated the  removal  of  Mr.  W'augh  to  Bareilly  to 
supply  my  place,  and  Mr.  Baume  from  Lucknow 
to  Shahjehanpore. 

\\'hile  in  Budaon  our  tent  was  entered  by  rob- 
bers in  the  night,  and  our  trunks,  with  clothes, 
money,  and  books,  were  taken.  Our  native  min- 
ister said,  when  I  aroused  the  camp  and  called 
for  help  to  catch  the  thieves,  I  said  they  had  car- 
ried ofif  my  grammar  and  dictionar)' ;  the  loss  of 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  in  India.  127 


these  was  more  than  anything  else  in  the  line  of 
property  just  then.  It  costs  a  great  effort  to  get 
the  language,  and  I  had  bent  all  my  energies  in 
that  direction.  The  grammar  and  dictionary 
were  constant  companions  in  those  days. 

^^'e  returned  to  Bareilly  and  made  over  our 
charge  to  ]\Ir.  Waugh,  and  were  soon  back  in 
Budaon,  and  very  busy  in  laying  the  foundation 
for  our  work.  We  had  much  to  do  to  get  prop- 
erly housed,  and  the  work  in  shape  for  the  hot 
season,  which  would  soon  begin.  Our  first  work 
was  to  render  our  residence  habitable.  It  re- 
quired plastering,  and  proper  floors  were  to  be 
made;  this  occupied  several  weeks. 

In  the  meantime  we  looked  about  with  the 
view  to  becoming  acquainted  with  the  district. 
It  seems  to  be  densely  populated ;  the  soil  is  gen- 
erally fertile,  with  good  facilities  for  irrigation, 
either  by  temporary  wells  or  streams.  It  is  re- 
garded highly  advantageous  that  all  through  this 
section  of  country  water  is  not  very  distant  from 
the  surface;  it  can  he  reached  in  almost  any 
locality  by  digging  from  ten  to  twenty-five  feet. 


128  TwENTY-ONI;  YfiARS  IN  InDIA. 


There  are  two  kinds  of  wells  in  use ;  one  is  called 
a  "pucka  well,"  which  is  substantially  made,  well 
bricked  up  in  the  inside ;  the  other  is  known  as  a 
"kutcha  well,"  which  is  simply  dug  down  to  water 
without  any  bricking  up,  and  the  water  is  drawn 
by  hand,  or  by  bullocks,  to  irrigate  the  field.  It 
is  a  very  important  matter  to  be  able  to  get  water 
without  much  expense  for  this  purpose ;  it  makes 
a  good  crop  quite  certain,  even  if  the  rains  are 
slight.  These  words,  pucka  and  kutcha,  are  very 
significant,  and  very  largely  used.  Pucka  is  ap- 
plied to  anything  substantial  and  permanent,  or 
to  be  relied  upon;  kutcha  is  applied  to  anything 
not  substantial.  A  pucka  house  is  one  well  built ; 
a  pucka  man  is  one  that  can  be  relied  upon.  A 
kutcha  house  is  one  that  is  not  substantially  built ; 
a  kutcha  man  is  one  that  you  can  not  trust.  The 
district  contains  several  cities  of  some  size,  of 
which  Budaon  itself  is  the  chief,  and  contains  a 
population  of  about  thirty  thousand,  and  is  the 
official  center  of  the  district,  which  contains  nearly 
a  million  of  people.  The  European  portion  has 
excellently  paved  roads,  with  some  very  comfort- 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  129 

able  residences,  with  large  and  attractive  gardens 
attached.  The  Government  buildings  are  sub- 
stantial and  well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. We  found  eight  or  ten  European  fami- 
lies living  here. 

I  was  expected  to  hold  a  service  in  English 
for  these  on  Sunday.  The  native  population  I 
found  to  be  divided  between  Hindus  and  Moham- 
medans, in  the  ratio  of  about  three  of  the  former 
to  one  of  the  latter.  In  the  rural  portions  they 
are  mostly  Hindus,  divided  into  the  usual  castes. 
Our  first  object  was  to  complete  our  partially 
built  house,  and  get  ready  for  the  approaching 
hot  weather.  In  the  meantime  we  began  our 
work.  We  regarded  our  first  work  to  be  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  directly  to  the  people  in  their  own 
language.  Then  secondary  to  this,  we  opened 
schools  for  both  sexes,  as  far  as  our  means  would 
permit.  Nothing  could  be  more  firmly  settled  in 
my  mind  than  that  our  first  great  business  was 
to  go  to  the  people  everywhere,  carrying  to  them 
the  Gospel  message.  W'e  sought  out  convenient 
places  where  we  could  gather  tlic  people  and 
9 


130 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India, 


preach  to  them.  A  day  w  hen  we  had  not  held  such 
a  service  seemed  to  me  in  a  measure  lost. 

Before  the  hot  weather  fully  set  in,  I  made  a 
tour  to  Futtigarh,  about  sixty  miles  to  the  south 
of  us.  This  was  an  old  Mission  station  of  the 
Presb}"terian  Board,  situated  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Ganges.  Four  Mission  families  living  there, 
when  the  mutiny  broke  out,  fell  victims  to  Nana 
Sahib  and  his  followers,  and  were  put  to  death 
on  the  parade  ground  in  Cawnpore.  I  met  Messrs. 
Scott  and  Fullerton,  missionaries  residing  there, 
and  spent  two  or  three  delightful  days  with  them 
looking  over  their  fine  large  school  and  their 
Christian  community.  They  took  me  to  the  spot 
Avliere  the  head  master  of  the  school  was  tied  to 
the  muzzle  of  a  cannon,  and  told  to  renounce 
Christ  and  he  would  be  spared;  but  he  refused, 
the  torch  was  applied,  and  he  was  blown  to  atoms, 
rather  than  deny  his  Lord  and  Savior.  They  had 
a  large  industrial  establishment,  conducted  by  na- 
tive Christians,  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of  a 
ver\-  superior  style  of  tents,  that  interested  me 
ver\'  much.    I  thought  it  quite  certain  that  we 


Twe;nty-oxe  Years  in  India.  131 


would  wish  to  inaugurate  something  of  this  kind 
in  the  near  future,  with  the  purpose  of  furnishing 
employment  to  native  Christians.  Such  enter- 
prises seem  very  necessary  in  India ;  they  have 
seemed  so  from  the  very  beginning  of  our  work, 
and  they  seem  so  still,  and  perhaps  never  more  so 
than  now ;  but  for  some  reason  we  in  our  Mission 
have  never  seemed  to  prosper  very  well  with  en- 
terprises of  this  nature.  Perhaps  they  may  be 
more  successfully  conducted  now  than  in  the  past. 
There  is  much  need  of  enterprises  of  this  kind  on 
account  of  the  greater  number  of  children  that 
have  come  into  our  care  on  account  of  the  famines 
that  have  prevailed  late  years.  I  would  say  in 
this  connection  that  Mr.  Blackstock,  and  others  in 
charge  of  our  orphanage  for  boys  at  Shahjehan- 
pore,  have  succeeded  in  enterprises  of  this  kind  to 
a  very  good  degree.  Outside  our  orphanages,  or 
similar  institutions,  I  do  not  think  we  can  claim 
very  marked  success.  I  learned  many  things  from 
my  visit  to  these  brethren  in  Futtigarh  that  was  of 
great  use  to  me  in  after  years.  I  also  secured  the 
services  of  a  very  valuable  native  preacher,  Enoch 


132        TwEXTY-oxi:  Years  ix  India. 

Burge,  with  whom  I  was  intimately  associated  for 
many  years  in  one  way  and  another. 

Just  before  the  hot  season  set  in,  I  took  a  hast}' 
tour  out  into  the  western  part  of  the  district,  vis- 
iting some  of  the  more  important  towns  in  that 
direction.  In  one  place,  after  preaching,  among 
many  others  who  came  to  our  tent  for  tracts,  was 
a  ver}-  bright  lad  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of 
age,  who,  I  found,  could  read  well,  and  knew 
something  of  arithmetic.  He  was  a  very  inter- 
esting young  man,  and  from  the  first  I  felt  my 
heart  much  drawn  out  toward  him.  In  a  few 
days  after  my  return  to  Budaon  he  came  to  see 
me,  and  it  so  happened  that  we  desired  a  teacher 
for  a  low  caste  school  among  a  class  of  people 
who  seemed  much  interested  on  the  subject  of 
religion.  It  occurred  to  me  that  he  might  do  for 
this  school,  until  we  could  get  an  older  person. 
I  found  he  was  quite  as  old  as  I  was  when  I  taught 
my  first  school,  so  I  placed  him  in  charge  of  the 
school.  He  soon  became  a  Christian,  and  in  time 
a  member  of  Conference.  A  few  years  ago  \ve 
used  often  to  see  his  name  appended  to  hymns  of 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  133 


his  own  composition  in  our  vernacular  papers,  so 
that  he  came  to  be  known  as  the  poet  of  the  Mis- 
sion. He  is  now  a  member  of  the  Northwest  In- 
dia Conference.  The  little  school  he  taught 
proved  the  beginning  of  a  great  work  among  the 
people  of  that  class  for  whom  it  was  begun.  As 
the  years  have  gone  by  several  thousands  of  them 
have  become  Christians. 

During  my  residence  here  I  built  a  neat,  com- 
modious chapel,  which  served  us  well  for  both 
Hindustani  and  English  services  on  Sunday,  and 
for  a  boys'  school  during  the  week. 

Our  policy  has  been  to  have  one  superior 
school  at  our  mission  center  where  we  reside. 
In  this  are  taught  the  higher  branches,  both  ver- 
nacular and  English.  Then  we  have  as  many 
primary  schools  out  in  the  villages  as  seem  to  be 
demanded  and  as  we  can  support.  As  we  have 
native  Christians  out  in  the  villages,  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  provide  schools,  for  them. 
Here  the  foundation  of  their  education  is  laid. 
Those  among  the  children  that  seem  especially 
bright  and  promising  we  arrange  to  take  into  our 


134 


TwEXTY-oxE  Years  in  Ixdia. 


central  school,  so  that  they  can  pursue  a  more 
advanced  course  of  study.  Then  we  have  Reid 
Christian  College  for  Boys,  and  Miss  Thobum's 
College  for  Girls.  W'e  have  a  splendid  system 
arranged  for  the  education  of  the  boys  and  girls 
of  the  native  Church. 

\\'hat  is  now  lacking  is  the  endowment  of 
these  higher  institutions.  Let  them  be  put  upon 
a  proper  financial  footing  and  a  great  future  is 
before  them. 

In  November,  Mr.  Knowles  and  Joseph  Field- 
brave  came  over  from  Bareilly,  and  Enoch  Burge 
and  myself  joined  them,  and  we  went  to  the  great 
Mela  on  the  Ganges,  held  at  this  season  of  the 
year. 

This  festival  is  called  "The  Puran  Massee." 
The  people  come  together  from  a  great  distance, 
and  spend  from  ten  days  to  a  fortnight  on  the 
banks  of  the  river,  bathing  in  its  waters,  listen- 
ing to  the  Brahmins  as  they  recite  from  the  Shas- 
ters,  and  watching  whatever  may  be  going  on. 
It  is  a  time  of  recreation  generally,  and  the  women 
who  go  to  this  gathering  are  much  less  particu- 


TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  India.  135 


lar  to  keep  themselves  secluded  than  they  gen- 
erally are.  In  many  instances  they  bring  the  ashes 
of  members  of  the  family  who  have  died  during 
the  year  and  cast  them  into  the  Ganges.  In  the 
evening  the  river  is  covered  over  with  little  lights 
set  out  on  the  water  to  light  the  spirits  of  those 
who  have  gone  from  them  on  their  journey  to 
their  uncertain  future.  One  of  our  missionaries 
said  to  an  old  man  on  one  occasion,  "What  do  you 
put  these  lights  out  on  the  water  for  ?"  He  looked 
off  into  the  deepening  twilight  and  replied,  "O 
sir,  it  is  very  dark  over  there!"  It  is  so,  indeed, 
to  them.  This  is  a  good  time  for  preaching ;  they 
have  leisure,  and  usually  are  glad  to  listen.  I 
have  found  people  in  far-away  places  who,  to  my 
surprise,  said  they  had  heard  the  stor}'  of  Christ 
at  this  Mela  many  hundred  miles  away.  At  the 
close  of  an  address  one  day,  as  I  stepped  down 
from  the  place  on  which  I  was  standing,  a  very 
venerable  man  of  high  caste  fell  down  at  my  feet 
and  clasped  them  and  said,  "I  am  so  glad  I  have 
lived  to  see  this  day  and  hear  such  gracious 
words."    1  never  saw  him  again,  but  he  seemed 


136"       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


sincere  and  intensely  earnest,  walking  in  all  the 
light  he  had  received.  I  believe  there  are  such 
men  among  the  heathen,  and  when  they  hear  the 
Gospel  they  are  almost  sure  to  embrace  it.  I  can 
but  think  that  this  aged  man  was  prepared  by 
the  Lord  for  the  reception  of  the  Gospel  message, 
and  I  hope  to  meet  him  among  the  shining  ones  in 
heaven  some  day. 

The  veneration  of  the  people  of  India  for  the 
Ganges  is  very  great ;  it  is  the  most  sacred,  in  their 
estimation,  of  all  the  rivers  of  the  countr}^  The 
Ramayan,  the  great  epic  of  the  Hindus,  contains 
this  account  of  Gunga's  birth  : 

Ram  made  request  of  a  certain  holy  man : 

" '  O  Saint,  I  j-earn 
The  three  pathecl  Gunga's  tale  to  learn.' 
The  saint,  thus  urged,  recounted  both 
The  birth  of  Gunga  and  her  growth. 
'  The  mighty  hill  by  metals  stored, 
Himalaya,  is  the  mountain's  lord, — 
The  father  of  a  lovely  pair 
Of  daughters,  fairest  of  the  fair. 
Their  mother,  offspring  of  the  -will 
Of  Mem,  everlasting  hill ; 
Mena,  Himalaya's  darling,  graced 
With  beauty  of  her  dainty  waist ; 
Gunga  was  elder  born  ;  then  came 
The  fair  one  known  by  Uma's  name ; 


TwExTY-ONE  Years  in  India.  137 


Then  all  the  gods  in  heaven,  in  need 

Of  Gunga's  help  their  vows  to  speed, 

To  great  Himalaya  came,  and  prayed 

The  mountain  king  to  3deld  the  maid. 

He,  not  regardless  of  the  weal 

Of  three  worlds,  with  holy  zeal 

His  daughter  to  the  immortals  gave, — 

Gunga,  whose  waters  cleanse  and  save, 

Who  roams  at  pleasure,  fair  and  free. 

Purging  all  sinners,  to  the  sea. 

The  three  pathed. Gunga  thus  obtained. 

The  gods  their  heavenly  homes  regained.'  " 

Gunga  Ji,  the  honorable  Ganges,  is  greatly 
loved  and  enthusiastically  worshiped  by  the 
Hindus.  Aged  and  sick  people  are  often  taken 
to  its  banks  and  left  there  to  die.  It  is  regarded 
very  meritorious  to  pass  from  earth  with  its 
waters  in  view. 

For  weeks  after  this  great  gathering  on  the 
Ganges,  great  numbers  of  men  may  be  seen  car- 
rying on  their  shoulders  two  baskets,  one  attached 
to  each  end  of  a  pole,  filled  with  bottles  of  water 
from  the  river,  which  is  carried  hundreds  of  miles, 
and  is  kept  in  the  homes  of  the  better  class  of 
people  and  used  on  occasion  of  ceremony,  sick- 
ness, and  death.    It  is  regarded  especially  sacred. 

The  following  lines  express  something  of  esti- 


138       Twe;nTy-one  Years  in  India. 


mate  the  Hindus  put  upon  the  vahie  of  the  water 
of  the  holy  Mata  Gunga : 

"  The  jewels  of  Pima  are  costly  and  rare, 
Tlie  silks  of  Amritsar  are  matchlessly  fair ; 
But  the  waters  of  Gunga  in  beauty  outvie 
All  the  gems  of  the  earth,  all  the  stars  of  the  sky. 

Her  fountains  are  pure  as  the  snows  of  Kedar, 
And  her  stream,  as  it  flows,  no  foulness  can  mar; 
But  where  Kashi's  high  temples  eternally  shine, 
Each  wave  is  a  god,  and  each  drop  is  divine." 

A  Striking  scene  occurred  near  Hurdwar, 
where  the  Ganges  issues  from  the  Himalayas, 
April  the  8th,  1854.  The  Government  had  for 
several  years  heen  reopening  old  canals  that  had 
heen  made  by  the  Moguls,  but  had  fallen  into  de- 
cay. They  were  for  irrigation  only,  and  were 
found  to  be  so  very  useful  that  they  built  a  very 
fine,  large  one  through  the  Doab*  to  receive  water 
from  the  Ganges;  hoping  thus  to  avert  the  dis- 
astrous famines  to  which  that  region  is  subject. 

The  Ganges  Canal  was  a  vast  work,  but  it  was 
at  last  completed  and  about  to  be  formally  opened. 
The  Hindus  all  around  were  greatly  excited. 
They  could  not  believe  that  the  mighty  goddess — 

*  Land  lying  between  the  two  rivers,  the  Ganges  and  Jumna. 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  139 


the  Mata  Gunga — Mother  Ganges — would  allow 
any  portion  of  her  sacred  waters  to  flow  in  this 
channel  made  by  the  hated  Faringhis.  The 
priests  assured  the  people  that  Gunga  Ji  would 
utterly  refuse  to  flow  in  this  alien  channel.  She 
would  not  obey  the  English!  More  than  a  half 
million  of  people  waited  that  day  on  the  banks 
of  the  sacred  river  so  dear  to  their  hearts,  anx- 
iously watching  the  issue. 

The  deep  wide  channel  of  the  canal  stretched 
straight  out  into  the  distance.  The  great  Ganges 
rolled  majestically  on  its  way  towards  the  south- 
ern sea.  A  group  of  English  officials  and  engi- 
neers stood  at  a  point  of  contact  between  the  two. 
No  doubts  or  fears  disturbed  their  minds  in  re- 
gard to  what  the  Ganges  might  do.  They  might 
have  feared  an  uproar  among  the  people,  but  they 
had  to  risk  that.  At  a  signal  given,  the  obstruc- 
tions were  removed,  and  lo !  part  of  the  noble 
stream  flowed  into  the  canal  and  rolled  peace- 
fully onward  toward  the  horizon ! 

Amazement  and  anguish  transfixed  the  people 
for  a  while!  "Would  the  English  indeed  subdue 


140       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

their  gods  as  well  as  themselves?"  They  strained 
their  eyes,  then  turned  to  tell  the  breathless  crowd 
to  reproach  the  priests.  They  waited  until  it  was 
fully  evident  that  Gunga  Ji  had  really  yielded  to 
the  command  of  the  English;  then  one  terrible 
despairing  groan  burst  from  their  lips,  and  with 
bowed  heads  and  sinking  hearts  they  slowly  dis- 
persed. 

The  year  was  drawing  to  a  close.  It  had  been 
a  memorable  one  to  us.  We  had  greatly  enjoyed 
our  work,  and  there  had  been  a  very  encouraging 
advance  made  in  every  department  of  it. 

A  good  foundation  had  been  laid,  and  the 
way  was  now  clear  and  nothing  remained  but  to 
go  forward  and  push  the  work  at  every  point. 
It  had  been  a  year  of  trial  as  well.  God  gave  us  a 
little  one,  who  was  soon  taken  from  us,  and  my 
dear  wife  had  been  brought  to  the  point  of  death, 
and  for  days  we  watched  with  intense  anxiety, 

I  can  never  forget  the  debt  I  owe  to  mission- 
ary friends,  especially  to  the  first  Mrs.  Waugh, 
who  left  her  home  in  Bareilly  and  came,  and  was 
as  an  angel  from  heaven  to  us  through  all  that 
time  of  great  trial. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Return  to  Bareilly  and  Removal  to  Shahjehan- 
pore. 

Our  second  Annual  Meeting  was  held  in  the 
early  part  of  January,  1861.  During  the  latter 
part  of  i860,  and  up  to  the  harvest  in  September 
and  October,  1861,  we  suffered  much  through  a 
considerable  part  of  the  Northwest  from  famine. 
We  had  a  large  addition  to  the  numbers  in  our 
orphanages  on  account  of  it.  A  large  sum  of 
money  was  sent  out  from  England  to  relieve  the 
sufferings  at  the  time.  This  was  received  and 
disbursed  by  the  Government,  and  a  portion  of  it 
was  invested  for  the  support  of  orphan  children. 

For  many  years  we  drew  on  this  fund  a  fixed 

sum  for  each  child.    At  our  Annual  Meeting  I 

was  returned  to  Bareilly,  and  Mr.  Knowles  was 

sent  to  Budaon  in  my  place.    During  the  year 

Dr.  Butler  had  moved  from  Lucknow  to  Bareilly. 

141 


142       Twenty-one;  Years  in  India. 

Cashmere  Kotee  was  found  to  be  very  unsuitable 
for  the  prosecution  of  our  work.  It  was  isolated, 
far  from  the  city  and  cantonments,  and  incon- 
venient for  our  work  in  many  ways.  I  had  urged 
a  reconsideration  of  the  question  of  location  be- 
fore leaving  Bareilly.  After  locating  there,  I  very 
soon  became  convinced  that  it  was  not  the  place 
that  we  needed  for  our  work ;  but  it  seemed  the 
best  we  could  do  at  the  time.  Dr.  Butler  con- 
curred with  me,  and  determined  to  change  our 
location  as  soon  as  a  suitable  place  could  be  ob- 
tained. It  was  not  long  before  an  opportunity 
offered  to  get  a  site  lying  between  cantonments 
on  one  side,  and  the  city  on  the  other.  The  posi- 
tion was  excellent,  being  convenient  for  work  both 
in  the  English  part  of  the  station  and  among  the 
natives  of  the  city.  This  place  was  immediately 
secured  and  building  was  begun.  In  course  of 
the  year,  while  I  was  in  Budaon,  two  commodious 
Mission  houses  were  completed,  and  Cashmere 
Kotee  had  been  abandoned.  This  was  every  way 
a  wise  move.  We  ha\^e  had  all  these  years  a  fine 
location,  with  additions  which  have  since  been 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  143 


made,  and  the  fine  property  given  for  the  hospital 
under  the  charge  of  the  Woman's  Society,  by  the 
Nawab  of  Rampore  adjoining,  makes  our  Mis- 
sion premises  very  complete  and  valuable.  One 
of  the  houses  just  completed  was  occupied  by  Dr. 
Butler,  the  other  by  ]\Ir.  W'augli.  My  first-work 
after  arriving  in  Bareilly  was  to  superintend  the 
construction  of  a  building  for  the  boys'  orphan- 
age, and  then  a  residence  for  myself,  which  I  saw 
completed  ready  for  occupancy;  but  it  was  not 
my  fortune  to  occupy  it,  as  will  be  explained  far- 
ther on.  At  this  time  the  girls'  orphanage  was  in 
Lucknow  under  the  charge  of  Mrs.  Pierce. 
About  two  years  later,  after  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Pierce,  it  was  removed  to  Bareilly,  and  the  boys 
were  removed  to  Shahjehanpore,  where  they  have 
remained  up  to  the  present  time.  These  institu- 
tions have  served  a  highly  useful  purpose  in  our 
work.  In  addition  to  their  humane  character  in 
rescuing  suffering  and  starving  children,  they 
have  furnished  us  many  valuable  helpers,  both 
male  and  female.  Some  of  our  most  able  minis- 
ters in  our  Conference  at  the  present  time  were 


144       Twe;nTy-onb  Years  in  India. 

reared  in  our  orphanage.  Dr.  Butler  made  large 
plans  for  these  orphanages  and  expected  large 
things  from  them.  Perhaps  not  all  has  been  real- 
ized that  he  hoped  for ;  but ,  enough  has  been 
gained  fully  to  justify  the  wisdom  of  his  plans. 
They  have  served  a  grand  purpose,  and  bid  fair  to 
continue  to  do  so  for  a  long  time  to  come. 

Our  publishing  interests  began  to  take  shape 
about  this  time,  and  a  beginning  was  made.  A 
room  was  built  in  connection  with  the  orphanage 
building  for  the  press,  and  work  was  begun  under 
the  direction  of  Rev.  J.  W.  Waugh,  who  was  a 
practical  printer.  It  was  in  the  plan  to  teach  the 
older  boys  printing,  and  so  make  them  useful,  and 
give  them  a  good  trade  at  the  same  time.  This 
room  built  for  the  press  came  down  in  the  rains, 
which  were  especially  heavy  that  year,  and  the 
place  was  flooded  as  I  ha\'e  never  seen  it  since. 
Considerable  damage  was  done  to  type  and  mate- 
rial collected  by  Mr.  Waugh.  From  this  humble- 
beginning  has  grown  our  large  publishing  estab- 
lishments in  Lucknow  and  Calcutta,  which  have 
done  a  great  work  in  supplying  our  mission  with 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  145 


its  literature.  We  could  not  then,  in  our  most 
sangnine  moments,  have  imagined  what  we  now 
see  in  this,  as  in  nearly  every  other  department 
of  our  great  work.  W'e  soon  began  preaching  on 
regular  days,  in  all  the  most  prominent  points  in 
the  city.  We  arranged  a  regular  weekly  plan  for 
nearly  every  day  in  the  week  except  Sunday,  in 
which  work  was  laid  out  for  every  preacher  and 
helper  to  do.  \\'e  arranged  a  regular  plan  for 
visiting  the  larger  villages  about  the  city  within 
a  radius  of  five  or  six  miles.  This  work  was  car- 
ried on  with  regularity  and  spirit,  and  it  evidently 
made  a  very  strong  impression  upon  the  people. 
Two  years  before  I  had  seen  the  city  powerfully 
moved  on  the  occasion  of  the  baptism  of  Zhur-ul- 
Haqq.  This  year  I  was  permitted  to  see  the  peo- 
ple more  generally  and  more  deeply  moved  on  the 
occasion  of  the  baptism  of  a  young  Hindu  gen- 
tleman belonging  to  a  high  caste  family  of  im- 
portance in  the  city.  When  preaching  on  one  oc- 
casion in  one  of  the  large  Bazars  of  the  city,  I 
noticed  several  well-dressed  young  men  among 
our  hearers,  standing  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
10 


146       TvvENTY-ONK  Years  in  India. 

crowd  listening,  when  they  could  not  have  been 
induced  to  mix  with  them  and  come  near  to  us. 
I  was  especially  impressed  with  one  of  their  num- 
ber. I  thought  he  was  moved,  and  I  was  so  deeply 
impressed  that  I  made  a  great  efifort  to  get  to 
him  after  we  had  finished  our  speaking.  I  fol- 
lowed him  for  a  considerable  distance  in  the 
crowded  Bazar,  often  losing  sight  of  him,  and 
then  catching  a  glimpse  of  him  again.  I  finally 
came  up  with  him  and  spoke  to  him.  I  think  he 
was  much  surprised  to  be  pursued  in  that  way  by 
me.  I  was  not  a  little  surprised  myself  that  I 
should  have  done  so,  when  I  came  to  think  about 
it.  I  merely  acted  on  an  impression  without  stop- 
ping to  think.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  led  me,  as  I  think  the  outcome  in  this  case 
shows.  I  asked  him  how  what  he  had  heard  im- 
pressed him.  He  replied  that  he  was  much  in- 
terested, and  greatly  desired  to  hear  more.  I  in- 
vited him  to  come  to  our  residence  and  we  would 
be  glad  to  explain  these  things  to  him  more  fully. 
He  assured  me  that  he  would  gladly  come,  which 


TwExTY-oxE  Years  in  India.  147 

he  did  in  the  course  of  a  few  days.  These  visits 
were  continued  for  two  or  three  months,  during 
which  time  he  attended  our  Hindustani  sen-ices 
as  steadily  as  he  could.  Then  he  requested  me  to 
baptize  him.  I  deferred  it  for  a  time,  as  I  fore- 
saw that  he  would  have  to  meet  very  bitter  per- 
secution. He  said  his  wife  desired  to  be  baptized 
with  him,  and  it  was  arranged  that  on  a  certain 
day  they  should  come  to  the  Mission  for  that  pur- 
pose. On  the  day  appointed  he  arrived,  though 
much  past  the  hour  agreed  upon,  but  he  was  alone, 
and  with  clothes  soiled  and  torn,  and  bleeding 
from  blows  that  had  been  inflicted  upon  him  by 
members  of  his  wife's  family.  They  had  taken 
his  wife  from  him,  carried  her  back  to  their  home 
in  the  city;  in  the  struggle  he  succeeded  in  slip- 
ping out  of  their  hands  and  fled  to  us  for  protec- 
tion. The  next  day,  Rajah  Baijnath,  a  Hindu 
gentleman,  called,  who  was  greatly  honored  by 
the  English  for  his  stanch  loyalty  in  the  time  of 
the  mutiny,  and  for  the  aid  he  had  given  to  Eng- 
lish gentlemen  and  ladies  in  those  dark  days,  en- 


148       TwENTy-ONU  Yj;ars  in  India. 

abling  them  to  escape.  He  was  a  wealthy  banker ; 
Government  had  conferred  the  title  Rajah,  which 
was  equivalent  to  that  of  prince,  upon  him  for  his 
great  devotion  to  Europeans  and  to  the  Govern- 
ment. He  asked  that  he  might  be  permitted  to 
take  this  young  man  home  with  him  for  one  night. 
He  assured  me  that  he  would  be  responsible  for 
his  safety,  but  assured  me  that  they  would  do  all 
they  could  to  turn  him  from  his  insane  purpose 
to  become  a  Christian.  The  whole  city  was  up  in 
arms.  Before,  it  was  a  Mohammedan  that  proposed 
to  become  a  Christian ;  now  it  was  a  Brahmin ; 
and  both  Hindus  and  Mohammedans  were  in- 
tensely excited.  This  young  man  consented  to  go 
to  the  city  for  the  night;  he  well  knew  that  it 
would  be  a  night  of  fierce  trial  to  him.  He  re- 
quested that  we  would  all  pray  for  him.  There 
was  not  much  sleep  among  the  native  Christians 
that  were  with  us  that  night.  The  next  day  he 
was  returned  to  us  victorious.  He  said  they  ar- 
gued and  threatened  by  turns,  and  ofifered  him 
large  sums  of  money,  and  exhausted  every  device 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  149 


to  lead  him  to  abandon  his  purpose  to  become  a 
Christian,  but  to  no  avail.  Their  chagrin  was 
very  great  and  their  rage  knew  no  bounds.  There 
were  many  men  armed  with  lathis — heavy  sticks 
with  lead  run  about  the  end,  making  them  a  very 
dangerous  weapon — on  the  roads  about  our 
premises,  evidently  ready  for  mischief,  but  the 
Lord  restrained  them  from  acts  of  violence.  The 
next  evening  he  was  baptized  by  Dr.  Butler,  who 
happened  to  be  with  us  just  at  that  time,  and  by 
my  request  officiated.  A  day  or  two  afterward, 
Ambica  Churn's  father-in-law  called  early  in  the 
morning  to  see  him.  Not  dreaming  of  violence, 
I  left  them  for  a  few  moments,  when  I  heard  a 
heavy  blow  and  a  fall.  I  rushed  out,  when  Am- 
bica was  rising  from  the  floor,  and  blood  was 
flowing  from  his  head,  while  his  father-in-law  was 
fleeing  like  a  madman  from  the  compound.  I 
noticed  that  he  had  a  short  lathi  in  his  hands, 
which  he  was  using  as  a  walking  stick,  and  I 
thought  nothing  of  it.  Natives  often  carry  them 
in  that  way.    I  was  told  that  after  some  angry 


150       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

words  he  arose,  as  if  to  leave,  when  he  turned 
and  dealt  Ambica  a  murderous  blow,  saying  as  he 
did  so,  "I  am  ready  to  be  hanged  for  you,"  show- 
ing that  murder  was  in  his  heart,  but  fortunately 
he  was  not  very  seriously  hurt.  The  man  being 
a  somewhat  prominent  man  in  the  place,  as  he 
was  our  postmaster,  I  thought  it  should  not  be 
allowed  to  pass  unnoticed,  so  I  made  complaint 
in  one  of  our  courts,  and  he  was  put  under  bonds 
to  keep  the  peace,  and  fined  the  sum  of  rupees  50, 
which  was  a  small  punishment  for  the  crime  com- 
mitted ;  but  perhaps  it  was  sufficient  to  serve  the 
purpose  of  a  deterrent,  and  that  was  all  we  de- 
sired. 

In  the  early  history  of  our  work  we  had  two 
converts  from  the  better  classes — one  a  Moham- 
medan, the  other  a  high  caste  Hindu — and  these 
were  the  direct  fruit  of  preaching  in  the  Bazars 
to  the  people.  It  used  to  be  said  in  those  days 
that  we  never  could  reach  any  but  the  most  ig- 
norant and  the  lowest  among  the  people  by  our 
preaching.  These  cases  seemed  to  me  an  assur- 
ance that  we  might  hope  to  reach  the  highest,  as 


Twenty-one  Years  ix  India.  151 

well  as  the  lowest,  in  this  way.  It  seemed  an 
expression  of  God's  approval  of  our  methods, 
which  were: 

1.  The  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  message 
in  its  simplicity  and  power  directly  to  the  people 
in  their  own  language. 

2.  We  assumed  that  it  was  for  all  people,  rich 
and  poor,  high  or  low,  without  aistinction. 

3.  \\'e  expected  results. 

These  are  essential  principles,  and  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  all  true  success  in  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world.  This,  I  believe,  to  be  funda- 
mental in  the  Gospel  economy.  Of  course  there 
are  many  ways  of  preaching,  many  things  that 
must  be  done,  that  are  tributar}'  to  the 
one  great  end ;  but  the  tendency  is  for 
these  to  multiply  and  become  absorbing. 
Care  must  be  exercised  to  prevent  this. 
There  may  be  times  when  special  attention  must 
be  given  to  special  classes;  but  still  we  must  not 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  our  mission  is  to  all, 
we  are  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature. 


152       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


Our  work  grew  with  great  rapidity  on  every 
hand,  and  we  were  fully  absorbed  in  it.  Just  at 
this  time  circumstances  arose  that  seemed  to  make 
it  necessary  for  me  to  remove  from  Bareilly  to 
Shahjehanpore.  At  this  early  stage  of  our  his- 
tory, when  opening  work  in  many  different  places, 
and  laying  the  foundation  of  many  different  in- 
stitutions and  departments  of  work,  frequent 
changes  were  unavoidable.  This  experience  fell 
to  my  lot  in  these  early  years  of  the  Mission,  as  I 
was  one  of  the  first  in  the  field  and  could  better 
undertake  new  work  in  a  new  field  than  one  more 
recently  out  from  home  could.  This  was  to  be 
regretted,  as  with  a  missionary  everything  de- 
pends upon  personal  influence,  and  that  can  not 
be  acquired  without  time.  We  have  never  ob- 
served the  time  limit  in  India.  I  was  soon  settled 
in  Shahjehanpore,  where  I  found  a  great  field 
and  many  open  doors  of  usefulness.  I  found  it 
necessary  to  make  some  changes  in  the  boys' 
school  which  had  been  opened  on  the  Mission 
premises,  and  to  enlarge  its  scope.   I  succeeded  in 


TwjenTy-one;  Years  in  India. 


153 


obtaining  a  commodious  building  in  the  Bazar, 
and  secured  some  capable  teachers,  and  soon  our 
attendance  rose  from  about  twenty  to  over  one 
hundred.  We  carried  on  Bazar  preaching  regu- 
larly, as  we  had  done  in  other  places.  In  the 
course  of  the  year  several  persons  were  baptized, 
and  the  work  grew  rapidly  upon  our  hands.  I 
made  several  tours  of  some  distance  into  the  coun- 
try. In  course  of  one  of  them  I  visited  Brother 
and  Sister  Parker,  while  engaged  in  their  at- 
tempt to  colonize  the  Sikhs  on  land  in  the  Tari  in 
Oudh.  A  Government  official,  who  had  had  ex- 
perience in  such  attempts,  told  me  that  our  effort 
would  be  disastrous,  as  it  proved  to  be.  Most  of 
the  people  sent  there  died  of  fever.  Brother  and 
Sister  Parker  narrowly  escaped  with  their  lives. 
The  only  way  the  Tari  can  be  settled  is  to  crowd 
the  people  living  on  its  borders  farther  on,  little 
by  little.  People  taken  from  a  distance  and 
placed  in  that  region  will  almost  certainly  perish 
from  fever  during  the  rainy  season.  The  malaria 
of  that  region  is  deadly  to  people  not  accustomed 


154       TwUNTY-ONK  Years  in  India. 

to  it.  While  on  this  tour,  I  took  in  Seetapore, 
and  passed  a  few  days  with  Brother  and  Sister 
Gracey,  preaching  in  a  ]\Iela  held  there  at  that 
time.  While  here  I  met  a  native  doctor  who  had 
served  in  the  native  army  under  Government,  but 
had  now  retired  on  his  pension.  I  learned  that 
he  lived  some  distance  away  in  the  interior.  He 
was  a  man  of  some  importance  and  means,  and 
seemed  to  be  exerting  a  good  influence  on  the 
people  about  him.  I  promised  to  visit  him,  which 
I  did  some  months  afterward.  I  thought  his  a 
very  interesting  case,  and  made  an  itinerating 
tour  into  the  part  of  the  country  where  he  lived 
and  spent  a  Sunday  with  him,  and  baptized  sev- 
eral members  of  his  family,  among  them  his 
mother,  a  very  aged  woman.  While  here  in  Shah- 
jehanpore,  I  saw  a  man  who  had  been  carried 
away  when  a  child  by  wolves  and  reared  by  them. 
T  had  heard  of  cases  of  this  kind,  but  was  very 
much  in  doubt  about  their  validity.  This  person 
was  found  by  a  hunting  party  a  short  time  before 
the  mutiny.    They  came  upon  a  pack  of  wolves, 


TwKNTY-ONE  Years  in  India.  155 

and  one  of  them  proved  to  be  this  man.  He  must 
have  been  eighteen  years  of  age  at  the  time.  He 
was  twenty  or  more  when  I  saw  him.  The  gen- 
tleman of  whom  we  rented  our  school  building 
gave  him  an  outbuilding  in  the  compound  in 
which  he  lived.  He  was  scarcely  more  than  an 
animal.  He  could  not  talk,  and  lived  like  an  ani- 
mal; he  knew  enough  to  hold  out  his  hand  for 
bakshish,  as  even  monkeys  are  often  trained  to 
do  in  India.  I  saw  him  often,  and  can  vouch  for 
the  case  as  being  true.  I  was  greatly  delighted 
to  welcome  Rev.  D.  \V.  Thomas  and  Mrs. 
Thomas  from  home  this  year.  I  had  known  both 
of  them  at  home  before  their  marriage.  They 
were  from  the  same  section  of  country  that  I  was, 
and  it  was  indeed  a  great  delight  to  meet  them 
and  to  have  them  with  me  in  Shahjehanpore.  My 
wife  was  obliged  to  spend  that  season  in  the 
mountains,  on  account  of  illness,  so  that  it  was 
special  pleasure  to  have  somebody  in  the  house 
with  me.  They  were  very  much  occupied  in  the 
study  of  the  language,  and  were  able  to  do  but 


156       TwENTY-oxE  Years  ix  India. 

little  in  work  at  that  time,  and  in  September  they 
were  removed  to  Bareilly  to  assist  Dr.  Butler 
with  his  accounts.  A  little  later,  when  we 
became  better  organized,  Brother  Thomas  was 
made  treasurer  of  the  Mission,  in  which  capacity 
he  served  the  Mission  very  efficiently  for  many 
years.  I  must  not  fail  to  mention  a  special  kind 
of  work  that  I  prosecuted  in  this  place  among 
the  higher  class  people.  I  took  special  pains  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  the  best  families  in  the 
city,  calling  upon  them  in  times  of  affliction.  I 
often  had  opportunity  to  explain  our  belief  to 
them  at  a  time,  and  under  circumstances,  when 
the  truth  came  home  to  them  with  unusual  force. 
I  think  much  might  be  done  in  reaching  the 
higher  classes,  were  they  properly  approached.  I 
do  not  for  one  moment  think  we  should  neglect 
the  lower  classes  for  the  higher,  nor  do  I  think 
we  should  pass  by  the  higher  for  the  lower;  we 
are  to  go  to  all  without  distinction.  All  need  the 
Gospel,  as  all  are  under  condemnation,  and  the 
proclamation  of  pardon  includes  all.    The  year 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  157 


1862  is  memorable  in  the  history  of  our 
Mission.  Three  noble  and  devoted  mission- 
ary ladies  passed  on  to  heaven  that  year; 
Mrs.  Jackson  died  in  Budaon  about  the 
middle  of  September,  Mrs.  Thoburn  died  in 
Naini  Tal  in  October,  and  Mrs.  Pierce  in  Luck- 
now  in  November.  Circumstances  now  arose 
when  it  was  thought  necessary  for  us  to  remove 
to  Moradabad ;  this  was  done  with  many  regrets. 
I  found  my  attachment  for  the  work  in  Shahje- 
hanpore  had  become  very  strong,  especially  for 
the  school.  Teachers  and  pupils  manifested  the 
deepest  feeling  over  my  leaving.  It  had  cost  me 
much  anxious  labor  to  get  the  school  into  the  state 
it  was  then  in,  and  I  hoped  for  much  from  it. 

I  rose  soon  after  midnight,  on  the  day  we 
were  to  leave,  hoping  to  have  two  or  three  hours 
of  quiet  to  do  some  work  that  remained  to  be 
done,  so  that  all  might  be  in  proper  shape  for  my 
successor.  Soon  I  heard  a  soft  tap  at  my  door, 
which  proved  to  be  one  of  the  teachers  of  the 
school,  who  had  come  to  me  to  talk  with  me  about 


158       Twdnty-one;  Ye;ars  in  India. 

becoming  a  Christian.  He  seemed  to  be  much 
moved,  but  evidently  shrank  from  the  cross  he 
saw  it  involved.  I  gave  such  advice  as  I  thought 
the  case  demanded,  and  prayed  with  him.  I  am 
not  sure  that  I  have  ever  seen  him  since.  1  have 
the  greatest  sympathy  for  young  men  situated  as 
he  was,  convinced  of  the  falsity  of  their  own  sys- 
tems, and  yet  so  situated  that  to  forsake  them 
involves  the  loss  of  everything  in  this  world,  as 
it  must  seem  to  them.  Great  wisdom  is  needed  to 
deal  with  such  cases.  Sometimes  those  who  seem 
to  feel  the  cross  the  heaviest  will  be  very  brave 
and  patient  in  bearing  it  in  the  end. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Removal  to  Moradabad,  and  Furlough  Home. 

Mr.  Judd  and  Mr.  Brown  had  been  at  Morad- 
abad; Mr.  Judd  was  now  sent  to  Lucknow,  and 
Mr.  Brown  to  relieve  me  at  Shahjehanpore.  Mr. 
Jackson  was  to  have  been  associated  with  me  at 
Moradabad,  but  he  only  remained  a  short  time, 
as  lie  found  it  necessary  to  return  home  with  his 
motherless  child.  Then  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parker 
came  to  fill  the  vacant  place,  but  they  only  re- 
mained during  the  cold  weather,  and  were  con- 
stantly suffering  from  the  fever  they  had  con- 
tracted in  the  Tarai  in  Oudh.  As  soon  as  the  hot 
season  came  on  they  were  obliged  to  go  to  the 
mountains,  and  we  were  again  left  alone.  In  a 
few  weeks  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mansell  came  to  us  in 
their  place,  and  remained  during  the  year.  They 
had  but  recently  arrived  in  the  country,  and  were 
chiefly  occupied  in  the  study  of  the  language.  I 

159 


i6o       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

found  them  very  congenial  associates,  and  we  had 
a  dehghtful  time  together,  and  the  foundation  was 
laid  for  a  lifelong  friendship.  Dr.  Alansell  is 
still  in  the  work,  and  has  done  splendid  service  in 
the  cause  of  Christ  in  India  in  many  departments 
of  the  service. 

Here,  too,  I  found  a  boys'  school  conducted 
on  the  Mission  premises.  It  was  well  organized 
for  that  time,  with  an  attendance  pf  about  thirty. 
Some  of  the  boys  in  attendance  were  from  the 
best  families  in  the  city.  I  saw  at  once  that  the 
school  was  one  of  great  promise;  that  it  would 
evidently  prove  a  power  for  good  if  put  on  a 
proper  basis.  I  also  felt  sure  it  might  be  greatly 
improved  by  a  moderate  increase  of  the  expendi- 
ture, and  that  the  additional  funds  needed  might 
probably  be  secured  from  our  English  friends  in 
the  station.  I  laid  the  matter  before  a  few  of  our 
residents,  and  they  at  once  responded  with  all 
that  was  needed  to  make  the  advance.  I  then 
proceeded  to  remove  the  school  to  the  city.  It 
Avas  reorganized,  the  staff  of  teachers  strength- 
ened and  improved,  and,  as  a  result,  we  soon  had 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  i6i 


a  large  increase  in  our  attendance  and  in  general 
interest  in  the  school  by  the  better  class  of  people 
in  the  city.  In  a  short  time  Brother  Mansell  was 
able  to  take  charge  of  the  school  and  relieve  me 
of  the  care  and  responsibility  of  it.  This  was  a 
great  relief  to  me  with  all  the  other  work  upon 
my  hands  at  that  time.  In  our  first  class  were 
about  twenty  bright,  active  young  men  from  good 
families  in  the  city,  who  were  so  far  advanced  in 
the  study  of  the  English  language  that  they  could 
understand  it  and  speak  it  somewhat,  so  that 
Brother  Mansell  could  teach  them  to  advantage, 
and  at  the  same  time  exercise  a  general  superin- 
tendence over  the  whole  school.  This  has  long 
been  one  of  our  very  best  schools.  In  my  time 
there  was  a  site  in  a  very  central  position  that  I 
longed  to  obtain,  where  we  might  erect  a  building 
which  would  serve  both  for  the  school  and  re- 
ligious services,  but  it  was  not  available  at  that 
time.  Years  after.  Brother  Parker  succeeded  in 
obtaining  it,  and  such  a  building  as  I  had  dreamed 
of,  was  built,  and  it  has  served  a  grand  purpose 
for  many  years.  This  Moradabad  high  school  has 
u 


i62       Twenty-one;  Years  in  India. 


been  exceedingly  useful  in  affording  more  ad- 
vanced education  to  our  boys  out  in  the  country, 
who  have  given  promise  of  accomplishing  some- 
thing in  life.  We  have  had  from  the  beginning 
more  native  Christians  scattered  about  over  the 
country  in  the  Moradabad  district  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  country.  Bishop  Parker  did 
much  for  this  school  for  many  years,  raising  its 
grade  to  that  of  a  high  school,  educating  up  to 
what  is  known  as  "the  entrance  course,"  which  is 
equivalent  to  entrance  to  college  in  this  country. 

It  is  now  proposed  to  make  it  a  memorial  of 
Bishop  Parker,  which  is  exceedingly  appropriate, 
and  it  is  much  to  be  hoped  that  a  sufficient  sum 
may  be  secured  to  raise  it  above  financial  press- 
ure for  a  long  time  to  come. 

About  the  middle  of  December,  after  my  re- 
moval to  Moradabad,  Dr.  Butler  came  to  us,  on 
his  way  to  the  Panjab  to  attend  a  great  missionary 
gathering  in  Lahore,  which  was  designed  to  take 
in  all  the  missionaries  in  Upper  India.  It  was  to 
begin  on  Christmas-day  and  continue  through  the 
week  and  close  on  New- Year's  Day.  He  was  very 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India,  163 

anxious  to  have  me  accompany  him ;  but  I  felt  it 
would  be  impossible  for  me  to  meet  the  expenses 
of  so  long  a  journey,  but  my  wife  and  Dr.  Butler 
arranged  it  that  I  was  to  go.  For  a  very  small 
sum  he  agreed  to  meet  all  the  expense  of  my  go- 
ing. My  wife  insisted  on  paying  this  from  a 
small  sum  that  she  had  succeeded  in  laying  by. 
She  felt  that  it  was  an  opportunity  of  a  lifetime. 
I  felt  so,  too,  but  frequent  removals  and  sickness 
had  reduced  our  finances  to  that  extent  that  I  felt 
it  would  not  be  prudent  for  me  to  do  so.  But  at 
the  importunity  of  both  Dr.  Butler  and  my  wife 
I  had  to  yield,  and  I  have  never  felt  to  regret  it. 
It  was  the  great  occasion  of  my  life.  Our  journey 
took  us  by  Meerut,  Delhi,  Amballa,  Lodiana, 
Kapurthala,  Julinder,  and  Amritsir,  to  Lahore. 
Many  of  the  missionaries  were  out  in  the  district, 
or  on  their  way  to  the  Conference  to  be  held  in 
Lahore,  but  we  called  at  all  the  places  named  and 
saw  a  good  deal  of  their  work.  We  traveled  by 
Gharee  Dak;  it  was  a  long  journey  of  five  or  six 
hundred  miles,  and  we  had  several  nights  of 
travel.   Mr.  Hauser  joined  us  in  Meerut,  and  as 


164       Tw-EXTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdl\, 

may  be  imagined,  by  those  familiar  with  jour- 
neying in  India  in  those  days,  before  we  had  rail- 
ways, it  was  not  a  ven.-  easy  thing  for  three  of  us 
to  manage  to  pass  the  night  in  a  Dak  Gharee  to- 
gether, but  we  managed  it  in  some  way,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  all  the  enjoj-ment  out  of  it  we 
could.  Dr.  Butler  was  one  of  the  verj-  best  of 
traveling  companions.  He  \vas  splendid  at  rough- 
ing it,  versatile  in  expedients  to  make  matters  go 
on  smoothly,  and  as  he  assiuned  all  the  responsi- 
bilit)-  of  providing  for  me,  I  had  a  ro\"al  time.  I 
shall  never  forget  that  journey,  ^^'e  had  been 
together  a  good  deal  in  arranging  and  opening  our 
work,  with  all  the  anxiety  and  care  it  involved: 
now  we  were  for  the  time  freed  from  all  that, 
and  we  felt  drawn  together  as  perhaps  never  be- 
fore. I  shall  never  forget  some  of  our  conversa- 
tions during  those  long  moonlight  nights  on  that 
journey.  I  managed  to  get  him  to  tell  me  much 
more  of  his  early  life  than  I  had  known  before. 
I  have  often  wished  that  some  one  who  wields  a 
ready  pen  might  write  and  give  us  the  storj'  of 
his  noble  and  useful  life.    I  am  glad  to  say  that 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  165 


his  gifted  daughter,  Miss  Clementine  Butler,  who 
was  bom  in  India,  has  performed  this  service 
very  efificiently  and  lovingly.  The  book  will,  I 
have  no  doubt,  have  a  large  sale  and  be  widely 
circulated. 

As  I  look  back  over  the  past,  I  am  more  and 
more  impressed  by  the  importance  and  magnitude 
of  the  work  he  did  in  laying  the  foundation  of 
our  Mission  in  India.  Mistakes  were  made,  no 
doubt;  it  was  hardly  possible  that  it  should  be 
otherwise;  the  marvel  is  that  they  were  not  more 
numerous  than  thej'  actually  were.  His  plans 
were  large  and  generally  well  conceived,  and 
through  all  the  intervening  years  we  have  been 
reaping  the  benefit  of  them.  I  knew  him  as  inti- 
mately as  any  one  in  the  Mission,  and  I  think 
there  can  be  no  question  but  that  Dr.  Butler  was 
a  remarkable  man.  He  had  unbounded  energy 
and  courage;  but  few  men  would  have  accom- 
plished what  he  did  in  India  under  the  circum- 
stances that  then  existed.  His  memory  will  be 
cherished  in  India  by  many  for  a  long  time  to 
come.  He  was  a  very  able  preacher.  He  preached 


i66       Twenty-one;  Years  in  India. 


a  very  memorable  sermon  on  the  Sunday  inter- 
vening in  course  of  the  Conference.  We  were 
the  guests  of  the  Presbyterian  missionaries  dur- 
ing the  session  of  the  Conference.  This  Confer- 
ence was  distinguished  from  all  others  I  have  at- 
tended in  India,  by  the  number  of  high  officials 
who  attended  it,  and  took  a  prominent  part  in 
its  proceedings.  Among  these  were  Sir  Herbert 
Edwards,  Sir  Donald  McLeod,  Mr.  Forsyth, 
Colonel  Lake,  Major  McMahon,  Mr.  Cust,  the 
Rajah  of  Kapurthala,  and  many  others,  whose 
names  I  can  not  at  this  distance  of  time  recall.  The 
discussions  were  deeply  interesting,  having  to  do 
with  themes  and  subjects  that  were  important  and 
very  practical  then.  It  was  a  social  time  of  de- 
lightful memory.  We  were  on  one  occasion  en- 
tertained by  Sir  Donald  McLeod  at  breakfast,  on 
another  at  Mr.  Forsyth's,  and  on  another  occa- 
sion by  the  Rajah  of  Kapurthala.  He  was  a  very 
interesting  man,  and  was  in  high  favor  with  Gov- 
ernment, as  he  had  done  much  to  aid  the  English 
in  the  mutiny.  He  furnished  a  contingent  to  co- 
operate with  the  army  before  Delhi.    We  were 


TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia. 


167 


all  much  interested  in  him,  from  the  fact  that  at 
this  time  he  seemed  about  to  embrace  Christian- 
ity. He  had  married  a  Christian  wife;  he  had 
invited  a  missionary  to  live  at  his  capital.  Rev. 
Mr.  Woodside  lived  at  Kapurthala  at  that  time, 
and  we  enjoyed  a  most  delightful  visit  to  him 
on  our  way  up  country.  The  Rajah  had  made  a 
generous  subscription  to  our  Mission,  on  Mr. 
Woodside's  recommendation ;  but  some  reverses 
came  to  him  so  far  as  his  religious  life  was  con- 
cerned. I  think  he  never  embraced  Christianity 
fully,  and  the  missionary  was,  after  a  time,  re- 
moved. The  most  delightful  hours  of  all  were 
those  we  spent  in  the  home  of  Mr.  Foreman, 
where  all  the  missionary  body  had  a  common 
table,  and,  when  not  invited  out,  spent  the  eve- 
ning in  prayer  and  praise.  The  sessions  of  the 
Conference  were  confined  to  the  daytime.  We 
occupied  tents  in  the  Mission  compound.  It  was 
one  of  the  most  delightful  occasions  I  have  known, 
at  home  or  abroad.  We  reached  home  about  the 
loth  of  January,  having  had  a  truly  royal  time. 
During  the  season  we  were  at  Moradabad,  I 


i68       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


made  the  acquaintance  of  Pundit  Nand  Kishore 
who  was  a  Government  officer  in  charge  of  one 
of  the  Tahsils,  or  divisions,  of  the  district  under 
the  EngHsh  magistrate  and  collector.  He  lived 
at  Sambhal,  about  twenty  miles  from  Moradabad, 
and  desired  to  open  a  school  at  his  own  expense, 
and  desired  me  to  visit  him  and  render  him  some 
assistance  in  the  organization  of  his  enterprise. 
I  did  so,  and  fovmd  him  a  very  interesting  man 
indeed.  He  was  very  intelligent,  and  much  in- 
terested in  religious  subjects.  We  became  very 
warm  friends  and  years  afterward  we  were 
brought  into  very  close  contact  by  an  enterprise 
of  common  interest  to  us  both,  of  which  I  shall 
speak  in  a  future  chapter.  Sambhal  was  a  very 
interesting  place.  It  was  a  very  old  city,  and  the 
people  all  over  that  part  of  India  had  a  tradition 
that  the  tenth  incarnation  of  Vishnu  would  ap- 
pear in  Sambhal.  They  claim  that  there  have 
already  been  nine  incarnations  of  Vishnu,  and 
they  have  all  been  unholy ;  but  this  last,  which  is 
to  come,  will  be  holy,  and  will  bring  in  a  better 
age  for  the  world.  This  is  no  doubt  a  vague  tra- 
dition that  has  come  to  them  in  some  way  in  re- 


1*wenty-one;  Years  in  India.  169 


gard  to  our  Savior.  We  used  to  hear  more  about 
this  years  ago  than  we  do  now.  We  used  to  tell 
them  that  the  holy  incarnation  has  already  come, 
and  that  we  had  come  to  tell  them  about  it.  It 
seemed  to  prepare  them  to  receive  the  account  of 
our  Lord's  advent  with  favor.  We  occasionally 
meet  with  ideas  and  conceptions,  bursting  out 
from  a  mass  of  superstitions,  that  seem  almost 
startlingly  familiar,  and  we  wonder  where  they 
came  from.  I  have  been  told  that  in  the  south  of 
India  are  two  parties  of  Brahmins,  holding  di- 
verse theories  in  regard  to  the  relation  existing 
between  God  and  ourselves.  One  party  holds  that 
God  carries  us  as  a  cat  carries  her  young,  entirely 
independent  of  any  action  of  our  own.  From 
this  springs  the  doctrine  of  "kismat,"  or  fate, 
which  is  generally  held  by  the  Hindus.  Indeed, 
the  people  of  India,  both  Hindus  and  Mohamme- 
dans, are,  as  a  rule,  fatalists.  They  say  a  man's 
"kismat,"  is  written  on  his  forehead,  and  can  not 
be  changed.  When  calainity  comes  they  are  likely 
to  meet  it  stoically,  and  say,  "kismat  ki  bat,"  it 
is  fate. 


170        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


The  other  party  holds  to  what  is  called  the 
monkey  theory.  Our  relation  to  God,  they  say, 
is  like  that  existing  between  a  monkey  and  her 
young.  The  mother  carries  the  young;  if  they 
cling  to  her,  they  must  grasp  the  mother  and  hold 
on.  So,  they  say,  God  upholds  and  keeps  us  by  our 
clinging  to  Him,  not  by  His  clinging  to  us,  as 
the  other  party  holds.  In  certain  sections  in  the 
South,  it  is  said,  men  holding  these  views  are 
designated  as  belonging  to  the  cat  party,  or  to  the 
monkey  party.  Certainl}-  these  theories  seem 
very  similar  to  those  we  are  familiar  Avith. 

I  had  much  to  do  in  visiting  and  caring  for 
our  native  Christians  at  different  points  out  in 
the  district.  There  were  little  groups  of  from  two 
to  half  a  dozen  families  in  villages,  scattered 
about  over  the  country  miles  apart.  It  was  not  an 
easy  thing  to  reach  them  over  the  village  roads, 
which  were  often  far  from  being  good,  and  scat- 
tered as  they  were ;  but  it  was  very  important  that 
they  should  be  instructed  and  cared  for.  I  bap- 
tized a  good  number  of  families  this  year,  mostly 
among  the  Sikhs,  of  whom  we  have  spoken  in  a 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  171 


previous  chapter.  That  year  wolves  were  very 
numerous  and  troublesome.  Immediately  after 
the  mutiny  the  people  were  disarmed,  and  wild 
beasts  became  a  source  of  much  danger  in  some 
localities.  I  was  sleeping  in  an  open  shed  one 
night,  on  a  cot  the  people  had  provided  for  me, 
around  me  were  a  dozen  or  more  sleeping  on  the 
ground.  The  natives  always  cover  themselves  up 
very  closely,  head  and  feet,  if  they  happen  to  be 
the  possessors  of  a  blanket  or  a  cotton  chader 
(sheet),  when  they  lie  down  on  the  ground  or 
elsewhere  to  sleep.  The  chader  serves  them  a 
very  useful  purpose;  by  day  they  wrap  it  about 
them,  and  at  night,  when  they  sleep,  it  serves  as 
covering.  In  the  night  we  were  aroused  by  a  cry, 
"a  wolf."  It  seems  that  he  had  crept  up  and 
caught  the  clothing  of  one  of  the  men  and  was 
tugging  at  it,  when  he  awoke.  I  usually  traveled 
on  horseback,  and  often  at  night,  in  localities 
where  there  was  danger  of  being  attacked  by 
wolves. 

We  had  some  very  pleasant  acquaintances 
in  th.e  station,  among  the  English  residents,  and 


172       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

all  were  very  kind  and  took  much  interest  in  our 
work,  and  helped  us  with  liberal  donations.  Our 
station  doctor  (civil  surgeon,  as  called  in  India) 
was  indeed  a  character.  He  was  an  Irishman  of 
the  most  rabid  kind,  and  intensely  bitter  toward 
the  English.  He  would  indulge  more  freely  in 
his  criticisms  while  with  us  than  he  would  under 
other  circumstances.  The  English  are  very  out- 
spoken and  free  in  their  criticisms  of  public  men 
and  measures.  I  do  not  think  they  would  have 
relished  criticisms  from  us,  like  what  they  made 
to  us  freely.  \ye  were  very  careful  to  avoid  put- 
ting them  to  the  test  in  such  ways.  The  magis- 
trate and  collector  was  a  good  man,  and  showed 
us  great  kindnesses  in  many  ways.  Our  work 
was  full  of  interest,  and  fully  absorbed  all  our 
powers.  There  were  times  when  we  were  well- 
nigh  overwhelmed  by  the  darkness  and  wicked- 
ness that  confronted  us;  but  when  we  saw  that 
some  gain  was  being  made,  some  were  interested 
and  moved  by  the  Word,  we  were  encouraged  and 
enabled  to  press  fon\ard  in  our  great  work.  Our 
Bazar  preaching  was  attended  with  a  good  deal  of 


Twbnty-one;  Ye;ars  in  India.  173 


interest,  and  we  kept  it  up  regularly.  In  Novem- 
ber we  went  to  the  great  Mela  on  the  Ganges,  the 
"Puran  Massee,"  where  we  preached  to  great 
crowds  of  people  for  about  ten  days.  The  season 
had  been  one  of  anxiety  to  me  on  account  of  my 
wife's  illness.  She  had  passed  nearly  all  the  sea- 
son in  Naini  Tal,  and  had  been  very  dangerously 
ill  a  part  of  the  time.  The  physician  who  attended 
her  said  she  must  leave  India  and  return  home. 
This  came  upon  me  suddenly,  and  was  a  very 
great  trial.  It  had  been  impressed  upon  me  that 
we  were  to  live  and  die  in  India.  I  strongly  hoped 
to  do  so.  Our  physician  in  Moradabad  urged  our 
going,  assuring  me  that  by  doing  so  only  could 
her  life  be  prolonged.  It  was  a  real  sorrow  to 
leave  the  work,  opening  as  it  was  with  so  much 
promise,  and  I  felt  I  had  now  just  reached  a  point 
where  I  could  prosecute  it  with  comfort  to  my- 
self and  with  a  hope  of  success.  It  requires  two 
or  three  years  to  get  the  language  so  as  to  be  able 
to  use  it  with  facility  and  ease.  It  takes  a  longer 
time  to  so  learn  the  people  that  we  can  really  un- 
derstand them  and  see  things  from  their  stand- 


174       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

point,  and  we  must  do  this  before  we  can  influence 
them  very  much.  After  fully  considering  the 
matter  it  became  evident  to  all  that  we  must  sever 
our  connection  with  the  work,  for  awhile  at  least, 
and  return  home.  In  those  days  we  held  our  rela- 
tion to  our  home  Conferences.  I  did  not  wish  to 
be  an  occasion  of  expense  to  the  Missionary  So- 
ciety when  at  home,  so  I  asked  for  an  appoint- 
ment in  my  Conference.  I  have  mentioned  Main 
Phul  Singh,  one  of  our  early  converts  from 
among  the  Sikhs,  and  also  his  wife's  death ;  hear- 
ing that  we  were  to  leave  a  little  sooner  than  he 
supposed,  he  walked  all  night  to  reach  us,  that  I 
might  baptize  a  young  woman  and  marry  him 
to  her  before  leaving.  This  service  was  held  be- 
fore daylight  on  the  morning  of  our  departure 
from  Moradabad.  We  reached  home  early  in 
June,  a  few  days  more  than  seven  years  since 
sailing  from  Boston. 


CHAPTER  X. 
Medical  Work. 

While  on  our  journey  over  the  mountains, 
from  Landour  to  Naini  Tal,  in  1859,  we  were 
frequently  applied  to  for  medicine  by  the  people 
living  along  the  way,  and  I  became  much  im- 
pressed with  the  importance  of  having  some 
knowledge  of  medicine.  My  attaition  had  pre- 
viously been  directed  to  this  subject  in  Calcutta. 
I  went  out  to  visit  a  village  of  native  Christians 
in  the  rice-growing  region  south  of  Calcutta, 
where  the  land  is  for  several  months  flooded,  and 
the  people  work  in  the  water  a  good  deal.  Of 
course,  in  such  a  region  there  is  a  large  amount 
of  malaria,  and  it  is  very  sickly. 

Here  I  saw  how  important  it  was  for  the 
missionary  in  charge  of  these  people  to  be  able 
to  render  them  medical  aid.  I  then,  for  the  first, 
became  impressed  with  the  fact  that  in  being  out 

175 


176        TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  India. 

among  the  people  away  from  the  larger  towns 
and  cities  it  would  not  only  be  desirable,  but  abso- 
lutely necessary,  to  give  medicine  to  the  sick. 
India  is  a  hot  country,  and  in  some  seasons  of  the 
year  steaming  with  malaria,  and  fevers  of  a 
malarious  type  are  sure  to  prevail,  and  all  other 
maladies  that  follow  in  the  wake  of  malaria. 

The  mass  of  the  people  in  all  especially  mala- 
rious districts,  if  not  actually  prostrated  by  fever, 
suffer  from  enlarged  spleen,  disorders  of  the  liver 
and  digestive  system,  and  are  sure  to  be  in  a  low 
condition  of  health  generally.  Their  priests  are 
supposed  to  be  able  to  cure  diseases  of  the  body 
as  well  as  the  soul. 

They  naturally  enough  suppose  that  mission- 
aries must  have  some  knowledge  of  medicine,  and 
can  treat  their  bodily  ailments.  They  have  great 
faith,  as  a  rule,  in  our  system  of  medical  treat- 
ment, and  will  come  to  us  sooner  than  go  to  their 
own  people  for  aid  in  times  of  difficulty.  The  use 
of  medicine  seems  to  them  a  necessary  part  of  the 
duties  of  a  missionar}-,  and  they  take  it  for  granted 
that  he  is  skilled  in  the  healing  art.    As  time 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  177 


went  on,  I  did  what  I  could  to  qualify  myself  to 
treat  the  more  common  diseases  I  found  prevail- 
ing as  I  went  about  among  the  people  away  from 
the  centers,  or  Sudder  Stations.  I  had  medicines 
put  up  in  convenient  form  for  diseases  that  pre- 
vailed at  different  seasons,  and  always  took  them 
with  me  as  I  went  among  the  people  on  my  tours. 
This  gained  an  entrance  for  me  into  many  non- 
Christian  families,  and  made  friends,  removed 
prejudice,  and  made  them  more  favorably  dis- 
posed towards  us,  and  towards  the  native  Chris- 
tians. In  all  this  we  are  simply  following  in  the 
footsteps  of  the  Master  Himself.  He  healed  dis- 
eases and  gained  the  attention  and  sympathy  of 
the  people  thereby.  In  adopting  this  method  in 
prosecuting  our  work,  we  can  not  be  mistaken. 
India  affords  a  very  favorable  field  for  this  kind 
of  work.  I  think  every  missionary,  male  and 
female,  would  do  well  to  procure  some  knowledge 
of  medicine,  enough  to  enable  them  to  treat  com- 
mon diseases,  as  fevers,  dysentery,  enlargement 
of  the  spleen,  rheumatic  troubles,  common  skin 

diseases,  congestions  of  the  liver,  and  to  know 
12 


1/8       TwENTY-oxE  Years  ix  India. 

what  to  do  in  emergencies  or  accidents.  If  one 
proposes  to  be  about  among  the  people  very  much 
in  India,  I  am  sure  this  is  very  desirable,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  it  is  in  other  foreign  countries  as 
well.  It  is  especially  necessary  to  know  how  to 
take  care  of  our  health  in  foreign  climates,  that 
dififer  very  much  from  our  own.  We  can  not  do 
in  India,  as  regards  being  out  in  the  sun,  as  we 
are  accustomed  to  do  at  home.  Many,  when  they 
first  arrive  in  India,  think  the  missionaries  are 
too  careful,  and  so  go  on  and  expose  themselves 
recklessly,  and  are  soon  stricken  down  and  die, 
or  have  to  be  sent  home,  and  so  become  a  great 
expense  to  the  society  that  sent  them  out.  We 
are  solemnly  bound  not  to  be  careless,  or  impru- 
dent, in  the  treatment  of  ourselves  on  this  ground. 
Our  Missionary  Society  is  very  kind  and  generous 
in  the  treatment  of  those  it  sends  out  to  foreign 
lands  to  represent  them.  It  is  a  matter  of  honor, 
therefore,  to  guard  against  unnecessary  exposure 
of  our  health.  We  are  sometimes  so  placed  by 
the  demands  of  the  work  that  we  can  hardly  avoid 
some  risk  in  this  direction.    In  such  cases  one  is 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  179 


certainly  excusable.  We  often  expose  ourselves, 
no  doubt,  through  ignorance;  this  may  be  ex- 
cusable, and  it  may  not  be;  much  depends  upon 
circumstances.  It  seems  to  me  that  a  carefully 
prepared  work  on  this  subject,  with  directions  for 
the  treatment  of  the  more  common  and  prevail- 
ing diseases,  and  what  to  do  in  emergencies  and 
accidents,  placed  in  the  hands  of  every  missionary 
going  out,  could  but  be  very  beneficial.  I  have 
long  hoped  some  one  well  qualified  might  take 
up  this  subject  and  prepare  such  a  book.  It 
should  not  be  a  large  book,  nor  especially  learned, 
but  simple  and  plain,  so  that  non-professional 
people  could  easily  understand  it.  I  do  not  advo- 
cate doctors  for  India,  so  much  as  a  good  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  nursing,  or  how  to  care  for 
the  sick.  There  is  not  the  need  for  medical  mis- 
sionaries in  India  that  there  is  in  some  other  coun- 
tries, as  China  for  instance.  The  Government 
has  a  very  extensive  medical  system  extending  all 
over  British  India.  In  all  the  great  cities  are 
well-regulated  hospitals,  where  the  poor  can  ob- 
tain treatment  and  care  free  of  all  charges.  In 


i8o       Twb;nty-one;  Years  in  India. 

the  smaller  places,  cities  of  from  ten  to  twenty 
thousand  population,  are  located  branch  hospitals 
and  dispensaries,  where  people  can  obtain  treat- 
ment and  care  in  time  of  sickness.  There  is,  per- 
haps, no  country  in  the  world  better  cared  for 
than  India  is,  in  this,  and  in  most  other  respects 
as  regards  care  for  the  unfortunate  classes. 
Too  much  can  not  be  said  in  commendation  of 
the  British  Government  in  India  as  regards  all 
such  features.  A  man  goes  out  as  a  medical  mis- 
sionary, and  naturally  desires  to  use  his  medical 
knowledge  to  the  fullest  and  best  extent.  He 
must  have  a  hospital,  and  that  involves  a  consid- 
erable outlay,  and  it  is  not  required,  except  in  the 
out-of-way  localities,  where  he  does  not  care  to 
spend  his  life.  We  have  a  fairly  equipped  hos- 
pital in  Pithoragarh,  founded  by  Dr.  Gray  many 
years  ago,  which  has  been  of  great  service  to  the 
work  there.  We  have  a  large  and  superior  hos- 
pital, for  women,  in  Bareilly,  which  is  doing  a 
great  work,  but  we  do  not  greatly  need  many  ex- 
pensive hospitals  of  this  kind.  Every  missionary 
may  well  desire  to  have  some  knowledge  of  medi- 


Twi;nTy-one  Years  in  India.  i8i 

cine,  as  away  from  the  cities  and  larger  villages, 
where  we  find  hospitals  located,  are  large  sections 
of  country  where  no  such  institutions  are  found. 
In  all  these  sections,  as  we  travel  through  them, 
we  can  do  much  good  by  having  a  supply  of  medi- 
cine along,  especially  if  we  know  how  to  use  it; 
and  further,  now  we  are  having  native  Christians 
in  very  many  localities  out  in  the  country,  and 
they  will  look  to  us  for  medicine  when  sick.  So 
I  decidedly  say,  what  is  needed  is  a  good  prelimi- 
nary knowledge  of  medicine  for  use  out  among 
the  people,  away  from  the  larger  cities.  I  have 
always  thought  that  we  ought  to  have  some  medi- 
cal instruction  of  this  kind  given  to  our  young- 
men,  in  our  excellent  Theological  Seminary,  so 
ably  conducted  for  many  years  by  Dr.  T.  J.  Scott. 
I  very  much  wish  a  department  of  this  kind  might 
be  added,  even  if  we  had  to  drop  some  other  sub- 
jects. Dr.  Dease  is  well  qualified  to  take  charge 
of  such  a  work  as  this.  He  has  done  much  dur- 
ing past  years  in  educating  young  women  in 
medicine. 

Upon  arriving  home  in  1864,  I  immediately 


i82       Twenty-one;  Years  in  India. 

began  a  systematic  course  of  reading  under  a 
medical  friend.  I  had  no  thought  of  completing 
a  full  course,  but  I  kept  on  giving  the  subject  at- 
tention as  I  could  without  neglecting  my  other 
duties.  The  Church  I  was  serving  here  at  Little 
Falls,  kindly  gave  me  permission  to  attend  medi- 
cal lectures  in  Albany  through  the  week,  coming 
home  to  supply  my  pulpit  on  Sundays.  In  this 
way  I  accomplished  the  prescribed  course  and 
graduated  in  January,  1866.  Not  a  very  good 
thing  to  do.  I  certainly  would  not  recommend  it 
to  anybody,  but  I  was  anxious  to  accomplish  it 
for  the  work  in  India,  for  which  I  felt  I  had  not 
had  the  preparation  I  could  wish,  and  that  this 
would,  in  some  respects,  make  up  for  it.  A  little 
later  I  returned  to  India  and  was  stationed  at 
Naini  Tal,  where  my  home  has  been  ever  since, 
when  I  have  been  in  India. 

Sir  Henry  Ramsay,  Commissioner  of  Kumaon 
and  Gurhwal,  suggested  that  I  should  take  charge 
of  three  Government  hospitals,  located  at  differ- 
ent points  in  the  Bhaber  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tains.  After  a  time  the  Central  Hospital,  located 


TwENTy-ONE  Years  in  India.  183 

at  Naini  Tal,  was  placed  under  my  charge;  I  had 
charge  of  these  institutions  for  several  years. 
They  were  charitable  institutions,  and  I  only  re- 
ceived a  traveling  allowance  to  meet  my  expenses 
in  visiting  them,  as  I  found  it  necessary  in  their 
superintendence.  The  Government  gave  me  an 
expression  of  thanks  for  my  services,  and  made  a 
liberal  grant  of  medicines,  supplies,  and  surgical 
instruments  for  two  private  or  mission  hospitals, 
one  at  Dwarahat,  another  at  Bheem  Tal,  that  I 
desired  to  open.  I  think  much  good  was  done  by 
this  work,  though  there  were  some  difficulties  at- 
tending it  that  made  me  doubt  if  it  would  be  wise 
for  us  to  continue  to  take  charge  of  the  hospitals 
after  my  time  was  up.  The  work  was  very  exact- 
ing and  exhausting,  and  had  grown  upon  our 
hands  so  much  that  I  thought  it  would  not  be 
wise  for  us  to  try  to  go  on  caring  for  the  Gov- 
ernment part  of  it. 

I  will  now  mention  one  case,  out  of  many  that 
might  be  cited,  to  show  the  way  the  people  were 
affected  by  our  work.  It  was  our  misfortune  to 
have,  in  some  way,  given  offense  to  one  of  the 


184       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

leading  and  most  wealthy  natives  of  the  place. 
It  seems  that  this  occurred  when  we  first  came  to 
Naini  Tal  and  began  our  school  in  the  Bazar, 
early  in  1858.  How  it  came  about,  I  do  not  re- 
member, but  he  had  never  forgiven  us  or  been 
friendly  with  us  in  any  way.  He  had  talked 
against  us,  and  in  many  quiet  ways  sought  to 
counteract  our  efforts.  I  was,  therefore,  quite 
surprised  one  day  to  receive  a  call  from  him, 
when  he  frankly  told  me  that  he  had  never  liked 
us.  "But,"  said  he,  "I  like  what  you  are  doing; 
you  are  not  like  the  rest  of  them,  all  talk ;  you  are 
doing  something  more  than  talk.  I  can  talk  as  fast 
and  loud  as  they  can,  but  when  I  heard  about 
your  going  to  the  Bazar  in  the  storm  and  dark 
night  to  help  a  woman  who  had  been  hurt  by  the 
house  falling  in  upon  them,  I  said,  I  like  that  kind 
of  a  missionary."  Ever  after,  to  the  end  of  his 
life,  he  was  a  warm  and  true  friend.  He  was  ever 
ready  to  do  anything  in  his  power  to  aid  me,  and 
was  much  more  favorably  disposed  towards  Chris- 
tianity than  he  had  been  in  earlier  years.  He  said, 
"I  can  not  change  now,  I  am  too  old.  These  young 


TwENTY-ONS  Years  in  India.  185 


people  can,  and  I  am  willing  they  should,  if  they 
will  only  be  honest  and  sincere."  His  sons  are 
prominent  men  now,  in  Naini  Tal,  and  are  very 
friendly  and  ready  to  assist  us  at  any  time  when 
we  ask  it.  They  have  often  said  to  me  late  years, 
"We  can  never  forget  how  our  father  loved  you." 

One  day  my  friend,  Pundit  Nund  Kishore, 
Tahsildar  of  Sambhal,  in  Moradabad  District, 
came  to  see  me,  and  suggested  that  I  should  un- 
dertake the  education  of  a  class  of  young  native 
Christian  women,  with  a  view  to  their  practicing 
among  the  better  families,  where  the  women  are 
secluded,  or  behind  the  Purdah.  I  rqjlied,  "Where 
can  the  young  women  having  sufficient  education 
be  found?"  He  answered  at  once,  "You  can  get 
them  from  your  Girls'  Orphanage  in  Bareilly." 
He  proposed  to  be  responsible  for  all  expense  the 
effort  might  involve.  I  promised  to  consider  the 
subject  and  let  him  know  my  conclusion  in  a  few 
days.  After  careful  consideration  and  consulta- 
tion with  Sir  Henry,  I  determined  to  undertake 
it.  I  saw  from  the  start  that  it  would  involve  a 
great  amount  of  labor  and  perplexity,   but  it 


i86        Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

seemed  in  the  order  of  providence  that  I  should 
make  the  effort.  Nund  Kishore  apphed  at  once 
to  Government  for  a  "Grant  in  Aid,"  to  help  the 
project  along,  that  he  knew  would  bring  the  sub- 
ject before  Government,  and  it  would  be  talked 
about  in  Government  circles.  Most  of  the  Gov- 
ernment surgeons  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that 
the  thing  was  not  practicable ;  they  said  it  would 
be  a  good  thing  if  it  were  so,  but,  in  their  opinion, 
native  women  had  not  sufficient  ability  to  grasp 
the  subject,  to  begin  with;  and  even  if  they  had, 
they  certainly  do  not  have  sufficient  stamina  and 
strength  of  character  to  enable  them  to  practice 
with  any  fair  degree  of  success.  Sir  William 
Muir,  one  of  the  very  best  men  I  have  ever  known, 
was  Governor  at  the  time,  and  was  much  inter- 
ested from  the  first.  He  said,  "It,  of  course,  is  an 
experiment,  but  it  is  worth  trying;  it  may  prove 
the  beginning  of  a  great  popular  movement."  So 
the  grant  was  given.  In  about  two  years  a  com- 
mittee of  medical  men  of  high  standing  was  sent 
to  report  to  Government  the  progress  made  by 
the  young  women.    They  examined  them  very 


Twe;nTy-one  Years  in  India.  187 

thoroughly  in  everything  gone  over  by  them,  es- 
pecially in  the  treatment  of  the  sick  and  the  man- 
agement of  surgical  cases,  and  they  expressed 
themselves  as  pleased  with  the  result  of  their  ex- 
amination. Certificates  were  given  to  eight  of 
the  women,  commending  them  as  believed  to  be 
qualified  to  practice,  having  about  the  grade  of 
fourth-class  Government  native  doctors.  Govern- 
ment was  very  glad  to  get  some  of  these  women 
as  assistants  in  the  large  hospitals  in  the  cities  of 
the  plains.  I  graduated  four  or  five  more  the  fol- 
lowing year.  So  much  as  this  was  accomplished 
by  this  effort ;  it  became  certain,  in  the  minds  of 
prominent  men  in  the  service,  in  the  medical  de- 
partment, that  the  education  of  native  women  in 
medicine  is  quite  possible,  and  that,  when  educated, 
there  is  good  ground  to  liope  that  they  will  prove 
themselves  capable  of  doing  good  service.  Gov- 
ernment immediately  opened  the  medical  schools 
to  native  Christian  girls,  and  has  done  everything 
to  encourage  the  movement.  When  Lord  Duf- 
ferin  came  out  as  Viceroy,  Her  Majesty,  the 
Queen,  called  Lady  Duffcrin's  attention  to  this 


i88       TwenTy-one;  Years  in  India. 


subject.  Through  her  efforts  a  great  work  has 
been  accompHshed  for  the  women  of  India.  Now 
there  are  female  hospitals  in  nearly  every  large 
city,  well  supplied  with  female  doctors,  both  Eu- 
ropean and  native.  Miss  Dr.  Swain  had  a  class 
in  Bareilly.  Dr.  Dease  also  had  a  class  of  this 
kind  and  did  much  in  this  direction.  All  these 
efforts  helped  to  awaken  interest  in  this  great 
humane  movement  to  provide  medical  assistance 
for  the  millions  of  women  of  India,  who  have  been 
left  to  meet  the  ills  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  woman, 
without  such  aid  hitherto. 

I  have  just  seen  a  statement  that  Lady  Cur- 
zon,  wife  of  the  present  Governor-General,  is  in- 
teresting herself  in  this  movement,  and  has  raised 
a  large  sum  from  wealthy  natives  to  further  the 
education  of  native  women  in  medicine  for  prac- 
ticing in  the  homes  of  the  higher  classes  of  the 
people. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Our  Work  in  the  Mountains. 

In  this  chapter  I  propose  to  describe  the  work 
in  the  mountains  as  it  existed  from  1868  to  1874. 
In  one  of  the  earlier  chapters  I  have  given  an  ac- 
count of  the  beginning  of  the  work  in  Naini  Tal. 
Some  years  before  the  mutiny,  the  Rev.  J.  H. 
Budden,  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  lo- 
cated in  Almorah,  the  old  capital  of  Kumaon, 
about  thirty  miles  to  the  northeast  of  Naini  Tal. 
Mr.  Budden  had  built  up  a  very  interesting  work 
there,  and  was  naturally  desirous  to  extend  it  to 
all  the  centers  about  the  interior  hills. 

In  1859,  after  the  close  of  our  first  Confer- 
ence, Mr.  Thoburn,  now  Bishop  Thoburn,  was 
sent  to  Naini  Tal,  and  during  his  time  the  work 
was  extended  in  several  directions,  especially  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountains,  in  what  is  known  as 

the  Bhaber,  a  tract  of  land  lying  in  between  the 

189 


190       TwENTY-oxE  Years  ix  India. 

mountains  on  one  side,  and  the  Tarai  on  the 
other. 

Sir  Henry  Ramsay,  the  Commissioner  of  Ku- 
maon  and  Gurhwal,  was  engaged  in  setthng  this 
region  with  hill  people. 

The  meaning  of  the  word  Bhaber,  is  waterless 
forest.  The  soil  is  made  up  of  debris  washed 
down  from  the  mountains,  leaving  it  slightly  de- 
scending towards  the  plains.  In  this  soil  water 
can  not  be  obtained  by  digging  wells,  as  it  can 
in  most  of  Upper  India.  This  is  one  reason  that 
makes  this  portion  of  India  so  fertile,  water  can 
be  obtained  for  purposes  of  irrigation  without 
great  difficulty.  To  provide  water  for  their  crops 
in  this  region  of  the  Bhaber,  a  system  of  irrigation 
had  been  devised.  The  people  living  in  the  lower 
range  of  hills  near,  go  down  and  clear  the  lands 
and  make  themselves  winter  homes  in  this  lo- 
cality, and  in  this  way  they  escape  the  cold  of  the 
mountains  and  raise  good  crops  in  a  season  whai 
nothing  can  be  grown  in  the  hills.  Then,  when 
the  hot  season  begins,  they  return  to  their  homes 
in  the  mountains,  and  so  escape  the  great  heat  of 


Twi;nty-one;  Years  in  India.  191 


the  plains,  and  cultivate  their  fields  in  their  moun- 
tain homes.  This  has  been  of  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage to  these  people;  it  has  made  them  very 
comfortable  and  well-to-do. 

Their  fields  in  the  Bhaber  are  now  very  beauti- 
ful and  fertile,  and,  having  a  fine  system  of  irri- 
gation, their  crops  seldom,  if  ever,  fail.  So  the 
people  of  this  region  are  much  better  off  than  in 
any  other  part  of  the  country  with  which  I  am 
acquainted. 

We  have  had  for  many  years  a  very  interest- 
ing field  for  work  during  the  cold  season  down 
in  this  locality.  The  time  came  when  we  wished 
to  extend  our  work  in  the  mountains,  and  in  do- 
ing this  some  friction  seemed  likely  to  arise,  and 
we  were  in  danger  of  conflicting  with  the  plans 
of  our  brethren  of  the  other  Mission.  This  was 
the  condition  of  things  when  I  was  appointed  to 
Naini  Tal  in  1868.  As  soon  as  I  learned  the 
conditions  existing,  I  proposed  a  meeting  of  the 
missionaries  of  both  Societies,  in  Almorah.  This 
meeting  was  held,  Messrs.  Budden  and  Kenneday 
representing  the  London  Mission;  Mr.  Judd  and 


192       TwENTY-oxE  Years  ix  India. 

myself  representing  our  Society.  Our  mutual 
friend,  Sir  Henry  Ramsay,  met  with  us,  and  we 
soon  arrived  at  an  understanding,  and  a  division 
of  territory  was  agreed  upon  that  has  been  per- 
fectly satisfactory  from  that  day  to  this.  We 
also  formed  a  general  organization,  uniting  all 
our  ^fissions  in  the  Provinces,  for  mutual  help 
and  improvement,  under  one  general  committee. 
Our  plan  provided  for  holding  an  annual  meet- 
ing for  both  Europeans  and  natives,  alternating 
between  Naini  Tal  and  Almorah,  at  which  time 
it  was  proposed  to  hold  a  mass-meeting,  bringing 
both  classes  into  closer  sympathy  and  contact, 
hoping  thereby  to  awaken  greater  interest  in  the 
cause.  It  was  thought  that  a  large  popular  meet- 
ing of  this  kind  might  be  the  means  of  great  good. 
And  so  it  proved.  Some  most  remarkable  meetings 
were  held.  The  first  one  was  held  in  Naini  Tal, 
in  1870,  and  it  was  one  of  the  most  impressive 
meetings  I  ever  attended.  Our  Church  was  packed 
mostly  with  our  native  friends.  Sir  Henry  Ram- 
say presided,  and  some  stirring  addresses  were 
made  by  Europeans  and  natives.    The  effect  of 


ISA  DAS  AND  FAMILY  OF  NATIVE  CHRISTIANS. 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  193 

the  meeting  in  the  Province  was  very  far-reach- 
ing upon  both  classes,  that  is,  Europeans  and  na- 
tives. Isa  Das  was  baptized  in  Haldwane  about 
this  time. 

It  had  a  fine  effect  upon  the  natives  particu- 
larly, as  they  like  frankness,  something  they 
themselves  are  not  remarkable  for,  and  like  to 
have  European  ofificials  speak  out  directly  on  the 
subject  of  religion. 

In  addition  to  our  central  school  at  Naini  Tal, 
we  had  several  schools  of  a  lower  grade  at  dif- 
ferent points  out  in  the  hills  at  a  distance  varying 
from  ten  to  fifteen  miles.  These  schools  were 
held  in  the  hills  in  the  hot  season,  and  in  the 
plains  in  the  cold  weather.  We  had  a  few  that 
continued  the  year  round  in  the  Bhaber.  They 
required  a  good  deal  of  attention,  and  when  visit- 
ing them,  it  gave  me  an  excellent  opportunity  to 
meet  the  people  and  preach  to  them.  I  made  a 
point  of  always  carrying  with  me  a  good  supply 
of  medicines,  and  so  prescribed  for  the  sick.  If  I 
found  any  specially  bad  cases,  I  arranged  for 
them  to  come  into  one  of  our  hospitals,  where 
13 


194 


TwENTY-oxK  Years  in  India. 


they  could  have  the  care  and  attention  needed. 
This  they  could  not  have  in  their  homes  in  the 
villages. 

These  were  very  busy  years:  the  care  of  the 
schools,  the  constant  demands  of  the  sick,  attend- 
ing at  the  hospitals,  teaching  the  medical  class, 
and  all  other  incidental  demands  upon  one's  time. 
I  wonder  how  I  got  through  it  all.  In  addition 
to  all  this,  I  had  charge  of  a  large  English  con- 
gregation, for  which  one  service  in  the  evening 
of  each  Sunday  was  held.  This  service  was  at- 
tended by  Sir  William  ^Nluir  and  family,  and 
many  others  connected  with  Government.  This 
service  was  only  continued  for  about  eight  months 
in  the  year.  The  remaining  months  were  devoted 
entirely  to  native  work,  such  as  supervising  the 
schools  and  hospitals,  and  visiting  the  villages  in 
the  country  about  the  foot  of  the  hills. 

In  1870  we  had  a  visit  from  Rev.  William 
Taylor,  who  was  very  celebrated  as  an  evangelist 
in  those  days,  and  whose  labors  had  been  attended 
with  great  success  in  South  Africa  and  Australia, 
and  in  other  countries,  as  well  as  at  home.  In 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  195 


South  Africa  he  had  preached  through  an  inter- 
preter to  heathen  natives  with  marked  success ;  we 
hoped  he  might  do  so  in  India  as  well,  but  for 
some  reason  that  method  of  speaking  to  the  people 
did  not  succeed  as  we  hoped  it  might.  He  held 
meetings  among  the  natives  quite  extensively,  and 
with  some  success,  but  his  great  work  was  done 
among  English-speaking  people.  He  spent  about 
two  months  with  us  in  Naini  Tal,  and  was  an 
inmate  of  our  home  for  that  period,  and  held  a 
series  of  special  meetings  in  our  Naini  Tal 
Church,  and  many  started  out  in  an  earnest  Chris- 
tian life.  Mr.  Taylor  was  very  well  received  by 
the  English  residents  of  Naini  Tal,  and  we  re- 
ceived great  good  from  his  stay  among  us. 

While  with  us  at  that  time,  he  and  ^Irs. 
Humphrey  compiled  and  prepared  for  the  press 
an  English  Hymn-book,  with  tunes,  which  he  sent 
to  England  to  his  publisher  there,  and  in  due  time 
it  came  out  in  very  attractive  style.  Mr.  Taylor 
sent  us  a  present  of  two  hundred  copies  for  the 
use  of  our  congregation.  This  book  sen-ed  a 
most  useful  purpose  with  us  for  a  good  number  of 


196       TwKNTY-ONE  Years  in  India. 


years,  but  it  has  now  been  superseded  by  newer 
publications. 

Mr.  Taylor's  coming  to  us  marks  an  era  in 
our  history  as  a  mission.  He  soon  recognized 
that  his  mission  was  to  the  EngHsh-speaking  pop- 
ulation. We  have  many  such  who  are  born  in 
India.  Many  of  them  are  of  mixed  descent  and 
are  known  as  Eurasians ;  to  them,  in  every  sense, 
India  is  home.  There  are  others  born  in  India, 
who  are  not  of  mixed  descent,  but  India  is  their 
home;  they  have  but  little,  if  any,  expectation  of 
ever  leaving  it. 

There  are  communities  scattered  about  over 
the  country,  and  in  the  large  towns,  and  on  the 
lines  of  railway,  on  the  coffee  and  tea  plantations, 
and  about  the  mines  of  different  kinds  worked  in 
various  parts  of  the  country.  The  largest  Eng- 
lish-speaking communities  are  found  in  the  Presi- 
dency towns,  or  great  seaports,  as  Bombay,  Cal- 
cutta, Madras,  and  so  on.  Mr.  Taylor  soon 
found  his  way  to  these  great  centers,  and  im- 
portant and  most  useful  Churches  have  been 
raised  up  in  all  of  those  places.   If  any  one  famil- 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  197 


iar  with  the  history  of  this  movement  ever 
doubted  that  we  have  a  mission  to  the  Enghsh- 
speaking  people  of  India,  if  they  will  consider 
what  has  been  done  in  the  way  of  Churches  raised 
up,  schools  founded,  and  souls  saved,  I  am  sure 
they  will  doubt  no  more. 

As  a  Church,  I  think  we  feel  that  we  have 
had  a  very  honorable  part  in  helping  to  improve 
the  moral  tone  of  European  society  in  India. 

Mr.  Taylor  began  his  work  independent  of 
our  Missionary  Society,  and  his  plan  was  that  it 
should  be  carried  on  on  a  self-supporting  basis, 
and  it  was  carried  on  in  this  way  for  some  years, 
but  at  length  it  was  adopted  by  the  Board,  and  is 
now  carried  on  as  all  our  work  is,  directly  under 
the  Missionary  Society. 

I  have  spoken  of  Mr.  Taylor's  visit  to  us  as 
forming  a  crisis  in  our  history.  It  does  so  in  this 
way:  our  mission  field  had  been  definitely  located 
as  embracing  Oudh,  Rohilcund,  and  the  mountain 
districts  of  Kumaon  and  Gurhwal.  We  had 
found  it  necessary  to  break  over  our  bounds,  in 
one  or  two  instances,  before  Mr.  Taylor's  arrival. 


198       Twenty-one  Years  in  India, 

His  work  extending  over  the  South  of  India, 
made  it  necessary  to  extend  our  Hmits  until  we 
ceased  to  recognize  any  Hmits  whatsoever.  We 
came  to  feel  that  we  must  let  God  lead  us,  and 
He  does  not  set  bounds  to  his  work  as  we  are 
inclined  to  do.  We  have  had  many  things  to 
learn  as  the  years  have  gone  by,  and  among  them 
is  this :  it  is  better  to  let  God  lead  us  by  his  Provi- 
dence and  Spirit  as  to  where  we  should  go  and 
what  we  should  do. 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  Mr.  Taylor's 
visit,  I  desire  to  add  a  word  as  to  how  he  im- 
pressed me.  I  had  a  very  good  opportunity  to 
study  his  character  as  he  appeared  at  that  time. 
He  was  with  us  in  our  home  for  about  two  months, 
and  he  could  not  see  just  what  God's  plan  was  for 
his  future.  He  had  finished  his  work  in  our  Mis- 
sion in  the  plains,  and  he  was  now  waiting  to  see 
where  God  would  lead  him.  He  waited  very  pa- 
tiently for  the  Lord  to  show  him  His  will.  I 
think  I  have  never  seen  such  unwavering  faith  as 
he  seemed  to  exercise.  He  seemed  to  feel  that  he 
and  the  Lord  had  a  perfect  understanding ;  he  did 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  199 


not  seem  to  have  a  single  doubt,  under  circum- 
stances that  most  persons  would  have  felt  to  be 
rather  dark  and  forbidding.  I  felt  that  he  was 
indeed  a  great  man  of  God.  He  was  peculiar  in 
many  things,  but  it  seemed  to  me  easy  to  see  that 
he  was  a  remarkable  man,  and  that  God  was  with 
him  in  a  wonderful  way.  This  was  an  opinion 
formed  of  him  manv  vears  ago.  before  he  became 
the  founder  of  our  extensive  and  wonderful  work 
in  South  America,  and  our  pioneer  Bishop  of 
Africa. 

An  interesting  incident  occurred  this  season, 
which  may  be  worth  mentioning.  Our  colporter 
Obadiah,  whose  field  of  labor  was  down  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountains,  when  out  on  one  of  his 
tours,  was  overtaken  by  night  when  in  an  isolated 
nook  among  the  foothills  of  the  Great  Himalayas. 
He  was  hospitably  entertained  by  a  Hindu  family 
living  in  the  region.  The  members  of  the  family 
became  much  interested  in  what  he  told  them 
about  our  Savior,  and  in  the  morning  would  take 
nothing  for  his  entertainment,  but  insisted  in  pay- 
ing him  his  price  for  a  Testament  in  ilindee.  In 


200  TWENTY-OXE  YeaRS  IN  InDIA- 


a  few  months  I  had  the  great  privilege  of  baptiz- 
ing the  whole  family,  which  consisted  of  a  father 
and  mother  and  two  sons. 

That  Testament  was  loaned  to  another  family 
some  miles  away  in  the  mountains,  and  I  soon 
after  baptized  that  family,  and  then  several  others. 
In  a  little  time  a  Christian  communit}'  was  gath- 
ered in  the  Bhaber,  in  which  we  were  deeply  in- 
terested for  many  years.  The  families  gathered 
in  at  that  time  are  nearly  all  gone  now. 

In  1873,  owing  to  malarial  fever  contracted 
down  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  I  was  induced  to 
take  a  voyage  from  Calcutta  around  to  Bombay 
on  a  coasting  steamer.  We  visited  all  the  ports 
along  our  route.  I  was  especially  delighted  with 
our  visit  to  Columbo,  in  Ceylon,  where  we  were 
ver}-  hospitably  entertained  by  a  gentleman  of 
the  name  of  Ferguson,  if  I  remember  correctly. 
He  was  the  editor  of  the  leading  paper  of  that 
place.  They  were  a  lovely  family,  and  we  enjoyed 
a  day  or  two  of  rest  in  their  lovely  home,  more 
than  I  can  express.  Their  residence  was  situated 
in  a  grove  of  cocoanut  trees,  a  few  rods  from  the 
sea. 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  201 

The  breaking  of  the  great  waves  on  the  shore 
as  they  came  rolHng  in  from  the  vast  expanse  of 
ocean  off  at  the  south,  was  Hke  the  booming  of  a 
cannon.  The  memory  of  those  dear  people  has, 
through  all  the  years,  been  very  precious  to  us. 
They  were  Baptists,  and  a  few  days  before  had 
received  a  visit  from  some  of  their  missionaries 
on  the  way  to  Burmah,  who  were  at  that  time  on 
the  sea.  By  appointment,  at  a  given  hour  Sun- 
day evening,  we  sang  a  hymn  which  was  written 
as  a  prayer  for  friends  at  sea,  and  then  they  were 
most  lovingly  remembered  in  prayer.  We  were 
much  touched  by  this  loving  thoughtfulness,  and 
could  well  appreciate  it,  situated  as  we  were  at 
the  time.  We  had  a  most  delightful  trip  over 
the  pearl  fishery  ground  to  Tuticorin  on  the 
main  land,  where  we  had  a  wedding  of  a  lady 
who  had  just  come  out  from  England,  and  was 
met  by  an  engineer  on  a  railway  being  built  in  the 
interior,  some  distance  from  the  coast.  We  saw 
them  married,  got  up  as  good  a  dinner  for  them 
as  possible  in  the  rickety  old  Dak  Bungalow,  and 
started  them  off  in  an  ox-cart  for  their  journey 


202       Twenty-one;  Years  in  India. 

into  the  interior  to  their  home  that  was  to  be  for 
a  time.  We  had  a  most  dehghtful  stay  of  two  or 
three  days  in  Bombay,  and  then  hastened  to  Alla- 
habad to  attend  the  great  Missionary  Conference 
to  be  held  there,  beginning  on  Christmas-day  and 
continuing  until  New- Year's.  This  was  a  much 
larger  meeting  than  the  one  held  ten  years  before 
in  Lahore,  but  it  lacked  the  presence  of  the  dis- 
tinguished laymen  who  took  a  prominent  part  in 
that  meeting.  There  were  missionaries  present 
from  every  part  of  India,  and  it  was  a  very  in- 
spiring and  memorable  meeting.  Another  Mis- 
sionary Conference  was  held  in  Calcutta  in  1883, 
which  was  very  successful.  Another  was  held 
in  Bombay  in  1893.  One  has  just  been  held  in 
Madras,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  large  and  im- 
portant meeting. 

Towards  the  end  of  this  season,  1873,  my 
friend.  Pundit  Nund  Kishore,  sent  for  me  to 
come  to  Moradabad  and  visit  him.  I  found  him 
A^ery  ill  and  evidently  nearing  his  end.  He  said, 
"I  have  not  sent  for  you  as  a  doctor  merely,  but 
I  wish  to  talk  with  you  and  learn  what  I  must 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  203 


do  to  be  saved."  I  urged  him  to  accept  Christ 
and  trust  in  Him  alone.  I  spent  two  days  with 
him  and  explained  the  way  to  him  as  fully  as  I 
could,  and  I  think  he  did  accept  Christ  as  his 
Savior,  and  continued  to  do  so  to  the  end.  On 
two  or  three  occasions  he  and  his  wife  and  all 
the  members  of  his  family  would  come  in  and 
kneel  around  his  bed  while  I  led  in  prayer.  This 
means  a  great  deal  more  than  those  who  do  not 
know  the  circumstances  can  well  understand,  for 
a  high  caste  Hindu  to  call  in  his  wife  and  family 
for  prayer  in  this  way  was  a  very  marked  and 
impressive  confession  of  faith  in  our  holy  re- 
ligion. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  introducing  Brother  and 
Sister  Parker  to  the  family,  who,  I  knew,  would 
delight  to  minister  to  them  in  their  affliction,  and 
returned  to  my  home  in  Naini  Tal.  The  Pundit 
died  soon  afterward,  T  believe  a  true  believer  in 
Christ,  though  he  did  not  make  a  public  pro- 
fession of  Him  other  than  that  made  in  his  fam- 
ily. We  have  many  such  cases  in  India,  who  are 
never  counted  in  our  statistics  as  Christians ;  but 


204  TwDNTY-ONE  YeaRS  IN  InDIA. 

who  can  doubt  that  they  are  counted  among  the 
redeemed  in  heaven? 

Towards  the  end  of  the  season  it  became  evi- 
dent that  I  must  seek  an  entire  change.  I  could 
not  get  rid  of  the  malaria,  and  was  on  the  verge 
of  nervous  prostration.  My  medical  friends  all 
said  I  must  get  out  of  the  country  and  return 
home.  So,  with  many  regrets,  I  bade  my  friends 
in  India  good-bye  for  the  second  time,  after  about 
fifteen  years'  service  in  the  field,  and  returned  to 
the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Naini  Tal,  Pithoragarh,  and  the  Tarai. 

Upon  my  leaving  Naini  Tal  in  1874,  the  Eng- 
lish congregation  had  reached  a  point  of  develop- 
ment where  it  was  felt  that  a  pastor  was  needed 
for  it  who  might  devote  his  entire  time  and 
strength  to  its  interests,  and  that  his  support  could 
be  provided  by  the  congregation.  I  had  been  oc- 
cupied with  a  large  amount  of  native  work  of 
different  kinds,  as  well  as  the  medical  work,  which 
itself  was  enough  to  tax  the  energies  to  the  ut- 
most of  one  well  and  strong  man,  and  could  not 
give  my  chief  attention  to  the  English  Church. 
My  salary  had  been  paid  from  home,  so  they 
could  not  command  my  services  beyond  what 
seemed  proper  to  give,  all  other  parts  of  the  work 
being  taken  into  the  account.  The  English  work 
we  had  always  considered  as  a  kind  of  adjunct 
to  the  other  work,  or  as  something  thrown  in, 

that  we  might  do  if  we  could  without  interfering 

205 


2o6       Twenty-one;  Ye;ars  in  India. 

very  much  with  our  real  work,  which  we  thought 
to  be  among  the  people  of  the  country  or  the  na- 
tives. The  Church  had  now  reached  a  stage  in 
its  development  when  this  did  not  seem  to  meet 
its  demands. 

The  congregation  had  contributed  liberally  to 
the  native  work,  and  had  enlarged  the  church 
building  and  helped  materially  in  many  ways,  and 
ever  stood  ready  to  do  anything  they  were  de- 
sired to  do  for  the  furtherance  of  the  work,  but 
now  they  thought  they  might  undertake  the  sup- 
port of  a  pastor  of  their  own,  and  so  leave  him 
free  to  give  all  his  time  and  strength  to  the  care 
of  the  Church.  The  matter  was  laid  before  Bishop 
Harris  upon  his  visit  \o  us,  and  upon  returning 
to  the  United  States  he  appointed  the  Rev.  N.  G. 
Cheney,  of  New  York  East  Conference,  to  Naini 
Tal,  who  was  most  warmly  received,  and  liberal 
arrangements  were  made  for  his  support.  In  a 
short  time  a  house  was  built  by  the  congregation 
for  the  pastor's  residence,  and  he  soon  gathered 
about  him  many  devoted  and  loyal  friends.  His 
pastorate  of  six  years  was  in  every  way  a  very 


NAINI   TAL   ENGLISH  CHURCH. 


Twe;nty-one  Years  in  India.  207 


successful  one.  Many  were  helped  and  strength- 
ened in  the  Christian  life,  and  the  Church  was 
made  a  power  for  good  in  our  Anglo-Indian  com- 
munity of  Upper  India. 

During  Mr.  Cheney's  last  year  a  beautiful  stone 
church  was  built  at  the  lower  end  of  the  lake,  a 
mile  away  from  the  Mission  premises.  In  1880 
a  most  disastrous  landslide  occurred.  The  side  of 
a  mountain  came  down,  sweeping  away  a  large 
hotel  and  several  other  buildings  contiguous  to 
the  Mission  property,  seriously  damaging  several 
of  our  residences,  and  especially  endangering  the 
Mission  church.  The  cause  of  the  disaster  was  a 
very  heavy  fall  of  rain.  In  thirty-six  hours  as 
many  inches  of  rain  fell ;  this  loosened  the  gravelly 
soil  of  the  mountain,  and,  the  base  having  been 
dug  away  for  building  purposes,  the  whole  moun- 
tain side  came  down,  bearing  large  trees  with  it, 
and  sweeping  everything  before  it.  This  was  the 
most  destructive  landslide  ever  known  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  place.  A  large  amount  of  property 
was  destroyed,  and  much  more  was  seriously  dam- 
aged, and  many  lives  were  lost. 


2o8       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


It  seriously  damaged  the  station,  and  for  a 
time  threatened  its  destruction;  but  the  Govern- 
ment at  once  set  vigorously  about  repairing  the 
damage  and  introducing  precautionary  measures, 
so  the  place  was  soon  rendered  far  more  safe  than 
it  had  ever  been  before,  and  gradually  public  con- 
fidence was  restored. 

Our  Mission  houses  were  not  actually  de- 
stroyed, but  they  were  badly  damaged,  and  it  was 
feared  for  a  time  that  they  could  never  again  be 
safe  enough  to  make  people  willing  to  occupy 
them.  They  were  much  battered  and  broken,  and 
the  rooms  were  filled  to  the  ceiling  with  shale  that 
came  down  the  mountain  side  in  the  great  storm. 
The  ]\Iission  church  did  not  sufifer  as  much  as 
most  of  our  other  buildings,  but  it  was  thought 
to  be  unsafe,  and  so  measures  were  at  once  taken 
to  build  a  place  of  worship  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  lake.  This  was  completed  in  about  a  year. 
At  the  end  of  Mr.  Cheney's  pastorate  of  six  years, 
I  took  over  the  charge  from  him.  This  was  my 
third  appointment  to  Naini  Tal.  The  new  church 
building  had  just  been  dedicated  upon  my  arrival. 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  209 

I  immediately  set  about  the  renovation  of  the 
Mission  property,  and  found  that  the  buildings 
were  not  as  badly  damaged  as  was  supposed  to 
be  the  case.  They  were  soon  repaired,  and  grad- 
ually, as  the  people  gained  confidence,  they  were 
rented  and  occupied. 

The  same  year  that  I  took  charge  of  the  Eng- 
lish Church,  Miss  E.  I.  Knowles,  of  New  Jersey, 
came  out  to  take  charge  of  an  English  girls' 
boarding-school,  which  had  been  opened  a  short 
time  before.  She  conducted  this  school  for  five 
or  six  years  with  signal  success,  and  during  her 
administration  a  fine  property  was  purchased  for 
the  school,  and  it  was  placed  on  a  substantial  and 
permanent  foundation.  Under  the  able  manage- 
ment of  its  present  principal.  Miss  S.  A.  Easton, 
and  her  very  efficient  assistant.  Miss  Rue  Sellers, 
it  has  become  one  of  the  best  schools  of  its  kind 
in  India — one  that  does  us  the  greatest  credit, 
and  of  which  we  are  all  proud.  I  found  a  school 
also  for  English-speaking  boys,  which  had  been 
opened  by  Dr.  VVaugh  during  Mr.  Cheney's  pas- 
torate. The  Rev.  H.  F.  Kastendieck,  now  of 
14 


2IO       Twexty-oxe:  Years  in  India. 

Xew  York  East  Conference,  was  in  charge  of  it. 
The  school  was  under  the  management  of  the 
English  Church,  through  its  pastor.  It  was  con- 
ducted by  a  committee  of  gentlemen  representing 
the  Church  during  my  pastorate  of  two  years 
following.  It  then  passed  over  into  the  hands 
of  the  Conference,  and  is  conducted  by  a  com- 
mittee appointed  by  that  body. 

This  school  now  has  a  fine  property  and  loca- 
tion, and  is  prospering  under  the  principalship  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Butcher.  It  is  a  fine  school  now, 
and  stands  well  among  other  schools  of  the  kind 
in  the  country.  For  a  season  I  was  engaged  in 
native  work,  and  spent  some  time  in  Eastern 
Kumaon  and  in  the  Tarai.  In  Pithoragarh,  on 
the  borders  of  Xepal,  a  ven*-  prosperous  work 
had  been  built  up  by  Dr.  Gray  and  Miss  Anna 
Budden.  Dr.  Gray  had  opened  a  hospital,  which 
was  much  needed  in  this  locality.  The  building 
was  well  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  place,  and  all 
of  its  appointments  were  excellent.  I  found  it 
under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Amos  Miller,  a  very 
competent  native  doctor,  who  is  still  in  charge  of 
it,  so  far  as  I  am  informed. 


TwKnTy-one;  Years  in  India.  211 

At  that  time,  Miss  Budden  was  on  leave  to 
the  United  States,  and  Miss  Nickerson  and  Miss 
Phebe  Rowe  were  in  charge  of  the  work  in  the 
women's  department.  They  were  both  of  them 
noble  missionaries.  A  few  years  later,  Miss  Nick- 
erson died  on  her  way  home,  and  was  buried  in 
the  Red  Sea.  Miss  Rowe  died  with  us  in  Naini 
Tal,  a  few  years  ago,  and  we  laid  her  away  in 
our  beautiful  station  cemetery,  where  Bishop 
Parker  now  rests.  I  can  say  without  any  qualifi- 
cation or  doubt,  that  Miss  Rowe  was  one  of  the 
most  saintly  characters  it  has  ever  been  my  privi- 
lege to  know.  She  was  greatly  honored  by  all 
that  knew  her,  whether  among  Europeans  or  na- 
tives. Her  loss  was  greatly  felt  by  us  all  in 
India. 

We  had  several  schools  located  at  different 
points  about  the  district  out  there.  These  were 
full  of  interest  to  me.  I  exceedingly  enjoyed  vis- 
iting them  and  meeting  the  people,  who  would 
come  to  the  schoolhouse  to  see  me,  thus  affording 
me  an  excellent  opportunity  to  preach  to  them. 
I  always  made  a  point  of  seeing  any  sick  people 


212       Twe;nty-one;  Years  in  India. 

that  might  present  themselves,  and  I  often  went 
with  them  to  their  homes  to  see  sick  ones  there, 
that  could  not  come  to  see  me,  and  often  they 
would  bring  their  sick  out  to  intercept  me  on  the 
road  where  they  knew  I  would  pass.  There  were 
a  great  number  of  lepers  in  this  part  of  the  hills. 
^Ve  had  many  cases  presenting  themselves  at  the 
hospital,  in  cases  where  the  disease  was  in  its  in- 
cipient stages;  that  is,  before  it  had  so  far  de- 
veloped as  to  be  unmistakable.  On  Sundays,  at 
the  close  of  our  morning  service,  a  score  or  more 
of  these  poor  unfortunate  people  would  be  found 
sitting  on  the  ground,  a  little  distance  away,  so 
as  to  be  quite  separate  from  the  other  people, 
waiting  for  us  to  speak  to  them  and  make  them 
some  small  gift,  to  enable  them  to  procure  food. 
Since  that  time  an  asylum  has  been  built  for  these 
people  in  that  region,  and  they  are  well  cared  for 
now,  both  as  regards  their  bodies  and  souls.  The 
circumstances  attending  the  opening  of  the  asy- 
lum are  rendered  very  pathetic  by  the  case  of  Miss 
Mary  Reid,  who  is  the  superintendent  of  it.  Miss 
Reid  is  one  of  the  missionaries  of  the  Woman's 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  213 


Missionary  Society,  and  while  home  on  furlough 
she  felt  that  in  some  way,  entirely  unknown  to 
her,  she  had  contracted  the  dreadful  disease.  She 
consulted  physicians  in  this  country,  but  they  were 
not  familiar  with  the  disease,  and  could  not  de- 
cide with  any  degree  of  certainty ;  but  the  general 
opinion  was  that  it  was  leprosy.  She  left  home 
and  returned,  feeling  that  she  was  a  leper.  On 
her  way  she  consulted  physicians  in  London  who 
had  been  in  India  and  were  familiar  with  the 
disease;  they  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  it  was 
leprosy,  but  it  is  not  always  easy  to  diagnose  the 
disease  in  its  earlier  stages,  as  I  well  know  from 
actual  experience.  But  Miss  Reid  went  back  feel- 
ing that  this  great  burden  of  sorrow  had  been 
assigned  her  in  God's  providence  for  a  purpose, 
and  that  was,  that  she  should  devote  her  life  to 
ministering  to  these  poor  suffering  people. 

In  due  time  an  asylum  was  built  on  a  beautiful 
eminence  overlooking  the  shore  valley,  as  you 
approach  it  from  the  west,  and  she  has  had  charge 
of  it  for  some  years  now.  Miss  Reid  is  a  culti- 
vated and  devoted  Christian  lady,  and  has  nobly 


214       I^wenty-one;  Ye;ars  in  India. 

borne  her  heavy  cross.  She  is  doing  a  most  gra- 
cious work  of  compassion,  and  she  will  have  many 
stars  to  shine  in  her  crown  from  among  these 
poor  afflicted  people.  I  am  glad  to  say,  that  ac- 
cording to  my  latest  information,  her  condition  is 
much  improved,  and  she  believes  she  is  cured. 

Miss  Budden  has  done  a  great  work  in  that 
part  of  the  province,  particularly  among  women. 
She  had  a  great  work  when  I  knew  it,  which  was 
quite  a  number  of  years  ago ;  it  must  have  grown 
a  good  deal  since  that  time.  I  have  heard  it  said 
that  among  the  people  generally  in  that  region  of 
the  country,  she  is  held  in  the  highest  regard  and 
is  honored  by  all. 

To  the  north  of  Pithoragarh,  up  under  the 
snowy  range,  near  the  pass  over  into  Thibet,  is 
the  country  of  the  Bhootias,  where  Miss  Dr.  Shel- 
don has  labored  untiringly  for  some  years,  and 
her  devoted  friend  and  assistant.  Miss  Brown, 
who  is  a  Naini  1  al  girl,  and  whom  I  have  known 
from  her  childhood.  A  few  like  Phebe  Rowe 
and  Miss  Brown  will  amply  repay  us  for  all  we 
have  done  for  these  people.   I  think  we  shall  yet 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  215 


have  many  missionaries  raised  up  from  among 
the  English-speaking  people  of  India.  They  are 
particularly  well  adapted  to  the  work  in  some 
respects;  they  know  the  language  of  the  natives 
from  childhood,  and,  having  grown  up  among 
the  people,  they  naturally  know  them  much  better 
than  we  can  who  come  to  them  farther  on  in  life 
and  from  another  distant  and  very  different  coun- 
try. It  is  a  very  important  matter  for  a  mission- 
ary to  know  the  people  well  and  to  sympathize 
with  them ;  it  is  not  a  very  easy  thing  for  us  to 
really  come  to  know  them ;  it  takes  time  and  effort 
to  do  this.  Those  born  in  the  country  have  an 
advantage  in  this  respect.  I  have  felt  for  years 
that  if  we  can  reach  English-speaking  people,  and 
get  them  baptized  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  would 
surely  reach  the  natives  and  a  revival  would  break 
out  among  them.  I  do  not  think  the  importance 
of  our  schools  and  English  work  generally  in 
India  is  fully  appreciated  in  this  country.  I  think 
our  schools  for  this  class  of  people  should  have  a 
heartier  support  at  home  than  they  seem  to  have. 
At  this  point  a  few  words  about  the  hill  peo- 


2i6       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

l)le  may  be  well.  As  we  come  among  them  at 
first  we  are  impressed  by  the  fact  that  they  are 
not  like  the  plains  people  in  many  of  their  char- 
acteristics. The  Hindus  are  of  Aryan  origin ; 
their  ancestors  came  from  some  place  in  Central 
Asia,  probably  Persia ;  a  portion  of  the  same  stock 
emigrated  to  the  West,  entered  Europe,  and  we 
are  descended  from  them,  so  that  we,  and  the 
ancestors  of  the  Hindus,  are  of  the  same  race. 
When  the  Aryans  arrived  in  Upper  India  they 
found  it  already  inhabitated  by  a  people  that  came 
into  the  country  from  Central  Asia  farther  to  the 
East.  These  people  are  called  Indo-Burmans,  or 
Kolarians.  The  Aryans  crowded  them  out  of 
the  plains  and  drove  them  into  the  mountains, 
where  many  of  them  may  be  found  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  not  much  advanced  from  what  they  were 
when  the  Aryans  first  came  in  contact  with  them. 
Generally  in  India  they  have  been  assimilated 
into  Hinduism.  They  have  accepted  caste  and 
call  themselves  Hindus.  Buddhism,  too,  has  fil- 
tered into  the  hills  from  the  way  of  Burmah,  so 
we  find  it  in  Nepal.    Kumaon  formerly  belonged 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  217 


to  the  Nepalese,  and  was  taken  from  them  by  the 
British.  We  have  no  Buddhism  in  the  hills,  so 
far  as  I  know,  in  the  British  possessions,  or  in  the 
plains  either.  Buddhism  is  strong  in  Ceylon  and 
in  Burmah.  There  are  about  eight  or  nine  mil- 
lions of  Buddhists  in  those  sections,  and  about  as 
many  of  the  aboriginals  living  in  the  hills  and 
wild  parts  of  the  country. 

There  came  into  India  by  the  passes  to  the 
Northwest,  the  same  that  the  Aryans,  later,  en- 
tered the  country  by,  a  class  sometimes  called 
Scythians,  now  usually  known  as  Dravidians, 
probably  from  Turkistan;  these  swept  on  to  the 
South  and  settled  Southern  India,  but  they  have 
all  been  assimilated  by  the  Hindus.  Sir  William 
Hunter  thinks  the  number  of  undoubted  descend- 
ants of  the  Aryans  is  probably  not  much  more  than 
about  twenty  millions.  It  must  be  seen  that  the 
assimilating  power  of  the  Hindu  system  is  amaz- 
ing. There  are  over  two  hundred  and  seven  mil- 
lions of  so-called  Hindus  in  India.  There  is  ^'ery 
little  attention  paid  as  to  what  a  man  believes, 
or  what  he  does,  so  long  as  he  recognizes  the 


2i8       Twenty-one:  Years  in  India. 


supremacy  of  the  Brahmins,  and  obeys  the  laws 
of  caste;  so  it  can  be  seen  that  Brahminism  or 
Hinduism  is  composed  of  a  great  mass  of  crude 
and  gross  ideas,  systems,  and  observances,  quite 
beyond  the  power  of  comprehension,  certainly  be- 
yond our  power  or  ability  to  explain.  Hinduism 
is,  in  fact,  a  great  mass  of  corruption,  with  very 
little  redeeming  connected  with  it.  To  me  it  is 
a  marvel  that  the  people  reared  under  it  are  as 
good  as  they  are,  or  that  they  have  any  good 
about  them.  Before  passing  entirely  from  East- 
ern Kumaon,  it  may  be  well  to  mention  one  in- 
cident that  occurred  at  that  time,  that  has  given 
me  much  encouragement  and  satisfaction.  A 
man  of  rather  a  high  caste  came  to  me  one  day, 
bringing  with  him  a  Testament  in  the  Hindee 
language,  and  urgently  entreated  me  to  read  it 
with  him,  and  explain  it  to  him.  Though  in- 
tensely pressed  with  work  of  many  different 
kinds,  I  promised  to  give  him  a  half  hour  each 
day,  he  coming  very  promptly  at  the  hour  named. 
We  began  our  reading,  closing  with  a  short 
prayer.    This  was  continued  for  several  weeks, 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  219 


until  I  left  the  place.  Some  months  afterward, 
word  came  to  me  one  day  in  Naini  Tal  that  a 
man  in  a  certain  part  of  the  station,  who  was  dy- 
ing with  cholera,  was  most  anxious  to  see  me.  I 
hastened  to  him  and  found  him  in  the  collapse 
stage  of  the  disease,  and  evidently  near  his  end. 
His  mind  was  perfectly  clear,  as  is  likely  to  be 
the  case  with  one  dying  from  that  fearful  dis- 
ease. He  expressed  his  delight  at  seeing  me,  and 
said  he  wished  to  tell  me  how  glad  he  was  that  I 
spent  those  hours  with  him  in  Shore,  and  taught 
him  to  know  and  love  Jesus.  He  added,  "T  am 
not  afraid  to  die;  I  am  going  to  Him."  He  had 
victory  through  the  blood  of  Calvary,  and  there, 
in  that  little  hut — he  lying  on  the  ground,  with  no 
human  friend  near,  and  dying — was  heaven.  It 
was  only  one  instance  out  of  many  of  a  similar 
kind ;  it  was  only  one  poor  man — one  soul  saved 
— yet  it  was  amply  worth  all  I  had  gone  througli 
in  course  of  my  missionary'  life  in  India.  The 
memory  of  that  hour  will  never  be  forgotten. 

This  year  I  had  charge  of  some  interesting 
work  in  the  Tarai.    There  is  a  class  of  people 


220  TwENTY-OXE  YeaRS  IN  InDIA. 

through  that  section  called  Tarus.  They  were 
neither  Hindus  nor  Mohammedans,  and  we  knew 
very  little  of  their  history',  as  to  where  they  came 
from,  and  what  brought  them  where  they  were. 
We  thought  they  gave  promise  of  becoming 
Christians  in  a  body,  as  the  Sikhs  in  the  Morada- 
bad  district  did  in  the  early  history  of  our  work ; 
and  along  at  different  times  through  the  years 
that  had  intervened,  since  Brother  Thoburn  had 
come  in  contact  with  them  while  he  was  living  at 
Naini  Tal,  we  heard  of  them,  and  hoped  much 
from  them,  but  somehow  they  never  made  any 
decisive  move  toward  becoming  Christians.  They 
came  to  me  and  besought  me  to  visit  them,  I  did 
so,  and  spent  some  time  among  them.  I  found 
one  thing  seemed  to  stand  in  their  way ;  they  were 
exceedingly  fond  of  drink.  They  claimed  they 
could  not  live  in  the  Tarai  without  it,  as  much 
of  the  year  it  is  fearfully  sickly  all  through  that 
region.  This,  I  think,  had  much  to  do  in  turn- 
ing them  from  their  purpose  to  become  Christians, 
as  we  strongly  insisted,  as  the  first  step,  that  they 
must  abandon  all  forms  of  intoxicating  drink. 


TwKNTY-ONE  Years  in  India.  221 


This  they  were  not  willing  to  do.  Had  they  lived 
in  localities  where  we  could  have  had  access  to 
them,  I  think  it  might  have  been  different  with 
them.  As  it  was,  they  were  surrounded  by  those 
who  would  have  been  bitter  enemies  to  them 
had  they  became  Christians,  and  being  demoral- 
ized by  drink,  their  convictions  were  not  suffi- 
ciently deep  to  enable  them  to  face  the  difficulties 
that  confronted  them.  They  knew  that  they  could 
have  but  little  help  from  us,  as  we  could  go 
into  that  section  during  only  a  very  small  part 
of  the  year ;  it  would  be  suicidal  to  attempt  it,  so 
they  felt  that  they  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  their 
heathen  and  Mohammedan  neighbors.  So  what 
seemed  a  movement  full  of  promise,  failed. 
Many  others  were  on  the  point  of  embracing 
Christianity  in  that  region,  and  no  doubt  would 
have  done  so  if  we  could  have  properly  cared  for 
them. 

We  had  a  number  of  schools  that  we  superin- 
tended for  Mr.  J.  C.  MacDonald,  the  officer  of 
Government  in  charge  of  that  district.  Mr.  Mac- 
Donald  was  a  nephew  of  Sir  Henry  Ramsay,  and 


222  TwENTY-ONS  YSARS  IN  InDIA. 

was  a  most  excellent  Government  oflficer,  and  did 
a  great  deal  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Tarai.  Dr.  Dease  and  myself  rendered 
him  what  help  we  could  in  caring  for  the  schools 
and  dispensaries  located  at  different  points  for 
the  advantage  of  the  people.  We  have  every  rea- 
son to  think  that  our  efforts  were  appreciated, 
both  by  Mr.  MacDonald  and  the  people  them- 
selves. He  was  a  warm  friend  of  us  both,  and 
was  most  ready  to  help  us  in  every  way  in  our 
work.  He  died  in  middle  life  from  diseases  con- 
tracted in  this  sickly  country.  His  was  a  noble 
devotion  to  duty.  He  did,  in  fact,  give  his  life 
for  the  people  he  presided  over  as  a  Government 
servant.  I  often  thought  of  him  as  an  example 
to  me,  and  earnestly  sought  grace  that  I  might 
be  as  faithful  in  caring  for  the  souls  of  the  peo- 
ple as  he  was  in  caring  for  their  worldly  interests. 

This  closed  my  third  period  of  service,  and, 
with  many  regrets,  I  felt  it  necessary  to  return  to 
the  United  States,  regarding  it  probable  that  my 
work  was  done  in  India. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


The  Hindu  People. 

The;  last  census,  that  of  1901,  makes  the  pop- 
ulation of  India  to  be  294,382,676.  Of  these 
there  are  207,147,023  Hinckis,  and  62,458,077 
Mohammedans.  These  are  the  people  with  whom 
we  have  to  do  chiefly  in  Upper  India,  where  our 
Missions  were  originally  located. 

The  importance  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  people  to  a  missionary,  and,  in  fact,  to  any 
who  would  approach  them  understandingly,  with 
a  purpose  of  gaining  an  influence  over  them  and 
doing  them  good,  can  not  by  any  means  be  over- 
estimated. Therefore,  T  propose  to  insert  a  chap- 
ter on  both  these  classes,  and  I  trust  my  long  and 
intimate  acquaintance  with  these  people  may  be 
cf)nsidered  a  sufficient  apology  for  any  seeming 
lack  of  unity  in  the  plan  of  this  work. 

It  seems  that  the  Hindus  are,  like  ourselves, 
223 


224 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  in  India. 


of  An'an  origin,  and,  from  what  we  can  gather, 
they  came  from  some  place  in  Persia  and  entered 
India  by  way  of  the  passes  to  the  northwest,  and 
settled  somewhere  to  the  north  of  Delhi,  in  what 
is  now  known  as  the  Panjab,  about  2,000  years 
B.  C.  They  were  a  noble  race,  large,  well-formed, 
thoughtful,  and  intelligent.  They  were  an  agri- 
cultural people,  and  kept  flocks  and  herds.  They 
had  a  decided  religious  tendency,  and  worshiped 
one  Supreme  Deity.  The  relations  of  the  family 
were  known  and  valued,  woman  was  accorded 
her  rightful  position,  early  marriages  were  dis- 
credited, there  were  no  idols  among  them  at  this 
period.  They  had  their  priests  who  were  their 
religious  teachers,  and  were  respected  and  looked 
up  to  as  such.  Their  sacred  books  are  called 
Vedas,  from  Vid,  to  know,  and  are  four  in  num- 
ber. The  first  of  these,  the  Rig-Veda,  is  com- 
posed of  hymns  used  in  worship.  The  Vedic 
period  of  Hindu  history  dates  from  about  the 
fourteenth  century  B.  C,  and  extends  to  the  time 
of  Manu,  in  about  the  seventh  or  eighth  century 
B.  C.    The  Vedas  were  not  reduced  to  writing 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India,  225 


until  somewhat  later  than  the  fourteenth  century ; 
but  were  in  use  orally  before  that.  They  recog- 
nized one  Supreme  Being,  but  the  elements  of  na- 
ture they  regarded  as  manifestation  of  Him. 
Indra  was  the  god  of  rain,  Agni  the  god  of  fire, 
Sur}'a  the  sun,  Ushas  the  dawn.  They  seemed 
to  have  been  greatly  impressed  by  natural  phe- 
nomena, and  these  manifestations  were  regarded 
as  inferior  forms  of  the  Deity.  Along  through 
these  centuries  the  Sanscrit  ceased  to  be  a  spoken 
language;  if  it  ever  had  been,  it  now  ceased  to  be 
generally  understood.  The  priests  alone  knew 
the  mystic  texts  and  sacred  rites.  An  error  in 
pronunciation  might  prove  the  destruction  of  the 
worshiper.  All  this  worked  for  the  elevation  of 
the  Brahmins,  and  gradually  they  grew  into  a 
caste,  into  which  no  one  could  enter  who  was  not 
of  priestly  descent.  The  Code  of  Manu  was  evi- 
dently the  work  of  the  Brahmins,  and  it  was  so 
constructed  as  to  work  for  their  supremacy. 

Then  followed  the  period  of  philosophy  and 
ritualism.    There  are  three  systems  of  philoso- 
phy: First,  the  Nyaya,  which  may  be  denomi- 
15 


226 


TwEXTY-oxE  Years  in  India. 


nated  as  theistic;  second,  the  Sankhya,  which  is 
atheistic;  the  third,  the  Vedanta,  which  is  pan- 
theistic. It  had  now  become  a  period  of  specu- 
lation and  ritualism.  Nothing  is  real,  all  is  Maya, 
or  illusion ;  a  shadow  or  a  dream ;  God  is  all,  and 
all  is  God. 

While  speculation  was  thus  busy,  sacerdotal- 
ism was  continually  strengthening  its  hold  upon 
the  people.  The  Brahmin  had  made  himself  in- 
dispensable in  all  sacred  rites ;  he  alone  could  pro- 
nounce the  words  of  awful  mystery  and  power  on 
which  depended  all  weal  or  woe.  On  all  occa- 
sions the  priest  must  be  called  in  and  implicitly 
obeyed.  Xever  was  sacerdotalism  more  complete 
or  more  arrogant  and  tyrannical.  Then  came  in 
the  system  of  caste,  stereotyping  the  existing  or- 
der, declaring  against  all  change,  and  making  it  a 
sacred  institution.  Form  is  now  declared  to  be 
more  important  than  doctrine  or  the  gods  them- 
selves. Covering  this  period  of  ritualism  are  the 
six  Shasters.  Then  covering  the  period  of  mod- 
ern Hinduism  are  the  eighteen  Puranas. 

Along  with  pantheism  came  in  polytheism 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  227 


and  the  doctrine  of  transmigration.  Hinduism  is 
a  strange  medley  of  these  systems.  It  has  ab- 
sorbed into  itself  the  local  deities  and  demons  of 
the  Animistic  races.  Indeed,  it  has  absorbed 
every  system  of  belief  it  has  come  in  contact  with. 
Buddhism  arose  as  a  protest  against  the  arro- 
gance and  corruptions  of  Brahminism,  and  when 
they  failed  to  overcome  this  system  by  force,  they 
resorted  to  their  usual  artifice,  and  incorporated 
Buddha  into  their  pantheon  and  made  him  the 
ninth  incarnation  of  Vishnu. 

Brahminism  has,  however,  never  for  one  mo- 
ment failed  to  maintain  its  claim  to  supremacy, 
and  the  sternest  restrictions  of  caste.  Men  may 
do  what  they  like,  believe  v/hat  they  please;  as 
long  as  they  observe  these  two  things,  they  are 
regarded  good  Hindus.  Macaulay  said  of  Brah- 
minism :  "All  is  hideous  and  grotesque  and  ig- 
noble. The  thirty-three  gods  of  Vedic  times  have 
been  increased  to  three  hundred  and  thirty-three 
millions  of  gods.  The  vilest  acts  are  unblush- 
ingly  ascribed  to  their  gods.  The  very  best  of 
them  are  impure,  and  some  of  them  are  vile  be- 

I 


228 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India. 


yond  anything  we  can  imagine  even.  Kalee  is 
a  bloodthirsty  demon,  and  yet  multitudes  worship 
her  to-day.  The  whole  system  is  impure  and  cor- 
rupt beyond  description.  The  gods  are  liars  and 
impure ;  why  should  the  people  be  anything  else  ? 
You  can  not  expect  the  people  to  be  better  than 
the  gods  they  worship."  The  whole  system  of 
Brahminism  is  corrupt  and  hideous.  I  have  seen 
things  with  my  own  eyes  in  Naini  Tal,  right 
alongside  a  high  form  of  Christian  civilization, 
that  I  could  not  speak  of.  I  have  witnessed  things 
in  their  temples  so  vile  and  impure  that  they  can 
not  be  spoken  of.  I  have  come  in  very  close  con- 
tact with  the  people,  not  only  as  a  missionary, 
but  as  a  medical  man,  and  I  know  how  very  cor- 
rupt the  people  are. 

I  do  not  charge  it  so  much  against  the  people 
as  against  the  system.  It  is  dreadful  to  think  of 
what  Hindu  mothers  teach  their  children  of  the 
doings  of  their  gods.  Some  people  in  these  days 
are  talking  about  the  beautiful  things  they  find 
in  the  Brahminical  system.  It  is  beautiful  to  see 
young  women  married  to  the  gods  in  the  temples, 
and  the  worship  of  the  "linga"  is  beautiful  as  al- 


TwENTY-ONK  Years  in  India.  229 


legory.  I  have  only  to  say  all  this  shows  what 
poor  mortals  we  are  and  how  easily  duped.  These 
young  women  are  common  characters  and  bring 
gain  to  the  Brahmins  as  the  price  of  their  vile- 
ness.  The  beautiful  things  of  Brahminism  are 
indeed  Maya  and  illusion. 

The  heathen  are  wickedj  they  are  sunken  in 
fearful  depths  of  sin.  This  is  the  fact;  and  only 
the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  can  save  them. 
That  can  do  it,  as  we  know ;  we  have  seen  it 
save  them  and  make  them  pure,  good,  and  lovely. 
A  very  superior  native  gentleman,  highly  edu- 
cated, and  holding  a  high  position  in  one  of  the 
departments  of  the  medical  service  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, was  at  one  time  much  exercised  on  the 
subject  of  religion,  and  he  met  me  with  this  state- 
ment, as  I  urged  the  claims  of  Christ  upon  him : 
"It  is  impossible  for  me  to  live  a  pure  life.  I 
will  not  be  a  hypocrite."  The  Hindus  are  to  me 
an  interesting  people;  I  can  make  allowance  for 
them ;  we  could  not  expect  anything  better  of 
them  when  we  consider  the  system  under  which 
they  are  reared. 


230       Twenty-one;  Years  in  India. 

The  most  prominent  and  characteristic  institu- 
tion of  Hinduism,  other  than  Brahminism,  is 
caste.  The  power  of  caste  is  as  irrational  as  it  is 
unbounded.  The  touch,  even  the  shadow,  of  a 
low  caste  man  pollutes  the  man  of  caste  preten- 
sions. The  high  caste  man  honors  and  worships 
a  cow,  but  shrinks  from  the  touch  of  a  man  of 
low  caste.  It  is  a  terrible  system,  holding  men 
in  bondage  worse  than  African  slavery.  Its  whole 
tendency  is  to  divide  and  separate  men  and  make 
them  regardless  of  each  other's  welfare.  It 
makes  them  indifferent  to  the  needs  and  suffer- 
ings of  others. 

The  higher  classes  are  polished  in  their  man- 
ners, have  quick  active  minds,  and  are  fond  of 
learning,  as  a  rule.  Very  many  are  seeking  edu- 
cation, but  the  great  mass  of  the  people  are  ex- 
ceedingly poor  and  ignorant.  Their  ideas  of  sin 
and  righteousness  are  totally  different  from  ours. 
Their  religious  duties  chiefly  consist  of  repeating 
the  name  of  a  god,  or  offering  a  brief  sentence  of 
prayer,  bathing,  observing  the  rules  of  caste,  mak- 
ing the  required  offerings  to  the  Brahmins,  or  at 
the  temple.    No  sense  of  moral  obligation  seems 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  231 


to  enter  into  the  thought  of  a  Hindu.  If  he  seeks 
to  propitiate  his  god,  it  is  that  he  may  do  him  no 
harm. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  Hindus  are  naturally- 
cruel  or  hard-hearted,  more  than  others ;  but  they 
are  selfish  no  doubt,  and  indifferent  to  the  wants 
of  others;  their  system  makes  them  so.  Woman 
is  assigned  an  inferior  position,  but  she  is  by  no 
means  always  kept  in  it.  The  case  of  widows  is 
extremely  hard ;  many  of  them  are  mere  children, 
and  are  denied  everything  calculated  to  brighten 
the  life  of  a  child.  Early  marriages  are  also  one 
of  the  abuses  of  Hindu  society.  The  age  of  con- 
sent has  now  been  raised  to  twelve  years. 

They  are  intensely  conservative  and  proud  of 
their  religion,  and  very  unwilling  to  relinquish  it. 
It  is  very  much  against  their  feelings  to  receive 
their  religion  from  foreigners.  The  Arya  Samajh 
is  an  effort  to  reform  Hinduism  by  restoring  the 
authority  of  the  Vedas.  The  Brahmo  Samajh  is 
also  a  kind  of  compromise,  accepting  some  things 
from  the  Christian  religion  and  retaining  the  best 
of  their  own  system. 


232       TwfiNTY-ONi;  Years  in  India. 

They  have  but  little  enterprise  in  business  pur- 
suits, and  are  content  to  follow  in  paths  already 
made.  They  have  but  little  public  spirit,  and  less 
of  what  we  call  patriotism.  I  am  inclined  to 
think,  however,  that  this  is  growing  on  the  whole. 

They  do  not  lack  mental  activity,  but  they  do 
lack  in  character,  in  breadth  of  view  and  firmness 
of  grasp,  and  self-reliance  in  cases  of  unexpected 
emergency.  They  lack  versatility  and  originality. 
They  are  clever  copyists  and  clerks  rather  than 
originators  and  masters.  They  seem  utterly  to 
lack  the  inventive  faculty.  The  higher  classes 
are  given  to  speculative  thought,  all  enshrouded 
in  a  blind  fatality.  The  lower  classes  are  ig- 
norant and  inclined  to  indifference.  As  you  min- 
gle with  them  you  hear  much  of  "kismat  ke  bat," 
that  is  fate.  They  meet  reverses  stoically ;  "it  is  my 
fate,"  they  say.  Large  numbers  are  now  becom- 
ing Christians,  especially  from  the  lower  classes. 
Some  of  our  native  Christians  are  filling  high  and 
responsible  positions.  All  classes  among  the 
Hindus,  I  think,  have  a  very  high  conception  of 
the  character  of  our  blessed  Lord. 


CLASS   OF   CHRISTIAN  GIRLS. 

(  )ln-    (;.  MIT. U  I'ln   fl  Mill  ||lMlh,-TU-lll, 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Mohammedans  of  India. 

I  HAVE  Stated  in  a  former  chapter  that  the 
last  census  makes  the  Moslem  population  of  India 
62,458,077,  which  is  nearly  one-third  of  the  pop- 
ulation of  the  whole  Mohammedan  world.  They 
are  very  numerous  in  Upper  India,  especially  in 
the  cities  and  larger  towns.  As  they  were  the 
rulers  of  the  country  for  nearly  six  hundred 
years,  until  the  British  period  began  in  1757,  they 
naturally  have  a  good  deal  of  influence  and  power 
still.  As  a  class  they  are  much  improved  from 
what  they  were  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago, 
when  they  first  came  under  British  rule. 

Mohammed  was  born  in  Mecca,  in  Arabia,  in 
the  year  569.  At  the  age  of  forty  he  claimed  to 
have  been  commissioned  of  God  as  a  prophet,  and 
that  his  mission  was  to  convert  the  world  to  the 
true  faith.    He  soon  gained  proselytes,  raised  an 

2J3 


234 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


army  of  Arabs  for  the  subjugation  of  the  world. 
The  career  of  conquest  was  begun  by  Mohammed 
himself  soon  after  his  flight  to  Medina  in  622, 
and  was  carried  on  with  great  vigor  by  his  suc- 
cessors, so  that  province  after  province,  and  coun- 
try after  country,  were  overcome  in  rapid  suc- 
cession. The  purpose  was  to  establish  by  the 
sword  a  universal  empire,  in  which  there  should 
be  one  prophet  and  one  religion.  The  Moham- 
medans were  from  the  first  violent  opposers  of 
all  idolatry.  Their  creed  \\'as  summed  up  in  these 
sententious  words :  "There  is  one  God,  and  Mo- 
hammed is  his  prophet."  Every  country  or  city 
they  overcame  was  required  to  embrace  the  faith 
of  Islam  and  pay  tribute.  In  case  of  refusal  the 
men  were  put  to  death,  the  women  and  children 
were  reduced  to  slavery.  It  is  said  that  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  prophet  overcame  Persia,  Egypt, 
and  Spain  in  two  or  three  campaigns;  but  it  was 
nearly  three  centuries  after  the  first  invasion  be- 
fore they  were  able  to  gain  any  substantial  foot- 
ing in  India.  There  had  been  several  invasions 
of  the  country  by  the  Mohammedans  before  their 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  235 

supremacy  became  established,  which  dates  from 
1206  A.  D.,  the  time  of  Kootub-ud-deen,  who  was 
the  first  to  occupy  Delhi  as  the  seat  of  Moslem 
power.  A  celebrated  monument  of  his  reign  ex- 
ists in  the  Kutub-Minar,  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful shafts  in  the  world,  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  feet  high,  about  twelve  miles  out  in  what 
is  known  as  old  Delhi. 

The  most  remarkable  of  all  the  Mohammedan 
dynasties  that  arose  was  that  of  the  Moguls. 
The  Moguls  were  a  tribe  of  Tartars  who  roamed 
with  their  flocks  through  Central  Asia  as  far  as 
the  Chinese  wall.  Genghis  Khan  was  their  leader. 
Many  of  them  had  come  into  India  with  the  lead- 
ers of  different  invasions,  and  remained  in  it. 
Baber  was  the  founder  of  this  dynasty.  His 
reign  began  in  1526.  He  was  succeeded  by  his 
son,  Humayun,  and  he  again  by  Akhbar,  who 
was,  without  all  doubt,  the  greatest  and  best  ruler 
India  ever  had  among  the  Mohammedans.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Jehanghir,  and  he  by  Shah 
Jehan,  and  he  again  by  .'Xurungzebe,  during  whose 
reign  it  became  evident  that  the  Mogul  power  had 


236       Twenty-one;  Years  in  IndIa. 


entered  upon  a  period  of  decay.  Strife  and  cor- 
ruption at  court,  disorganization  in  the  camp, 
and  general  and  widespread  discontent  among  the 
people  on  account  of  the  imposition  of  the  jezzia, 
a  poll-tax,  levied  by  Mohammedans  on  all  subject 
to  them,  and  excessive  taxes  on  the  land,  indi- 
cate clearly  that  the  process  of  decline  had  set  in. 

Thirty-six  years  later.  Nadir  Shah,  king  of 
Persia,  invaded  India.  During  his  occupancy  of 
the  city  of  Delhi  one  of  the  most  dreadful  massa- 
cres took  place  that  is  known  in  history.  For  two 
days  the  streets  ran  with  blood.  No  country  in 
the  world  has  suffered  more  from  invasions  than 
India.  This  was  the  last.  A  little  more  than  a 
score  of  years  brings  us  to  the  end  of  the  period 
of  Mohammedan  supremacy  in  India,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  period  of  her  history,  a 
period  in  which  the  country  has  enjoyed  the  bless- 
ings of  peace  and  security  as  never  before. 

The  kings  of  the  Mohammedan  period  were 
generally  corrupt  and  almost  constantly  engaged 
in  wars  to  extend  their  dominions  or  to  spread 
the  Mohammedan  faith.    They  gave  little  atten- 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  237 


tion  to  the  improvement  of  the  country  or  to  the 
needs  of  the  common  people.  They  cared  but  lit- 
tle for  them  except  to  plunder  them.  There  was 
scant  protection  for  life  and  property.  In  those 
days  many  Hindus  were  forced  to  become  Mo- 
hammedans. These  rulers,  with  few  exceptions, 
were  cruel  and  utterly  unprincipled,  caring  liter- 
ally nothing  for  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of 
their  people.  Perhaps  Baber,  Akhbar,  and  Shah 
Jehan  may  be  regarded  as  exceptions.  There  is 
very  little,  indeed,  to  be  found  in  the  Moslem 
period  that  commends  it  to  the  enlightened  judg- 
ment of  the  present  day. 

The  ■Mohammedans  are  a  vigorous,  self-as- 
serting people,  inclined  to  look  with  contempt 
upon  others,  and  to  be  intolerant,  vindictive,  and 
immoral.  Their  system  is  bad  and  can  but  tend 
to  immorality. 

They  look  and  appear  much  like  the  Hindus; 
to  one  who  is  strange  to  the  country,  they  are  dis- 
tinguished with  some  difficulty.  There  are  some 
slight  differences  in  dress;  their  houses  are  much 
like  those  of  their  Hindu  neighbors;  they  live 


238        TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia. 

together  on  the  same  streets,  and  their  st}-le  of 
living  is  in  many  respects  similar.  Their  food  is 
much  like  the  Hindu's,  with  the  exception  that 
they  use  meat  as  an  article  of  diet,  while  the 
Hindus  abhor  it.  They  have  no  caste ;  but  living 
in  close  contact  as  they  do  with  the  Hindus,  they 
are  inuch  influenced  by  them  as  to  their  customs, 
more  than  they  themselves  often  realize.  In 
many  ^Moslem  countries  they  will  readily  eat  with 
Christians,  but  in  India  they  will  very  seldom  do 
this.  The  arrangement  of  society-  with  them  is 
much  less  complex  than  that  of  the  Hindus. 
Through  Upper  India,  they  usually  obsen-e  a 
fourfold  classification,  into  Sayad,  ^Nlogul,  Pa- 
than,  and  Sheikh.  The  Sayads  are  the  most  hon- 
ored of  the  four,  as  they  claim  descent  from  the 
prophet  himself.  The  Moguls  are.  as  the  name 
implies,  descendants  from  the  Tartar  conquerors 
of  India.  They  are  less  numerous  than  the  other 
divisions,  and  in  some  cases  still  presence  a 
marked  Turanian  t}-pe  of  countenance.  They  are 
generally  known  by  the  title  of  Beg  affixed  to 
their  names,  and  often  use  the  prefix  Mir,  or 
Mirza.  from  Amirzada,  son  of  a  noble. 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  239 

The  Pathans  are  of  Afghan  origin,  and  dis- 
tinguish themselves  by  the  title  Khan,  which  they 
affix  to  their  name. 

Sheikh  is  more  common.  Any  one  who  does 
not  belong  to  either  of  the  classes  before  named, 
is,  or  may  be,  called  a  Sheikh.  Those  who  be- 
come converts  from  Hinduism  usually  take  this 
title,  and  from  having  been  used  so  commonly  it 
has  long  since  ceased  to  have  any  special  mean- 
ing or  value. 

The  Mohammedans  are  divided  into  two 
great  divisions,  the  Sunnis  and  the  Shias,  and 
to  these  may  be  added  two  others  nearly  as  im- 
portant— the  Wahabis  and  Sufis. 

First,  the  Sunnis  are  regarded  as  the  orthodox 
party.  They  accept  Abu  Bekr,  Omar,  and  0th- 
man,  as  well  as  Ali,  as  legitimate  successors  of 
the  prophet.  They  hold  to  tradition,  and  by  it 
neutralize  some  particulars  in  Mohammedan  law 
that  are  of  an  objectionable  nature,  affirming  that 
Mohammed  himself  repealed  them,  though  they 
are  still  in  the  Koran.  They  are  divided  into  four 
great  sects,  the  Hanifs,  Shafis,  Malikis,  and  Ham- 
balis. 


240       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


Second,  the  Shias  regard  Ali,  the  husband  of 
Fatimah,  the  prophet's  daughter,  as  the  true  suc- 
cessor of  Mohammed,  and  that  Abu  Bekr,  Omar, 
and  Othman  were  impostors  or  usurpers.  They 
hold  to  traditions,  and  the  twelve  Imams,  begin- 
ning with  Ali,  and  ending  with  Abu  Kasmi,  the 
Madhi,  who,  they  claim,  is  still  living,  and  that  he 
will  yet  appear  and  lead  them  in  the  conquest  of 
the  world.  This  belief  is  seemingly  dying  out 
since  their  disappointment  in  regard  to  the  so- 
called  Madhi  of  the  Soudan  some  years  ago. 
They  observe  the  commemoration  of  the  Imams, 
Ali,  Hassan,  and  Hussain  at  the_Moharram  with 
great  enthusiasm.  The  Persians  are  usually 
Shias,  while  Turkey  is  the  stronghold  of  the  Sun- 
nis,  and  this  accounts  for  the  bitter  antagonism 
between  the  Turks  and  Persians. 

Third,  the  Wahabis  are  a  very  fanatical  and 
bigoted  class,  a  very  dangerous  element  in  the 
political  interests  of  the  countries  where  they  are 
numerous. 

The  fourth  class,  the  Sufis,  are  not  very 
numerous,  but  they  have  great  influence  in  some 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  241 

places.  Their  creed  seems  to  be  a  mixture  of 
Mohammedanism  and  Pantheism. 

Mohammed  in  his  early  life  seems  to  have 
been  a  sincere  seeker  after  truth,  and  gave  prom- 
ise of  becoming  a  great  religious  reformer;  but 
it  is  doubtful  if  he  was  what  he  appeared  to  be. 
It  is  certain  that  soon  after  the  Hegira  he  threw 
off  the  mask  and  assumed  his  true  character  as  an 
impostor  and  hypocrite.  He  resorted  to  the  sword 
to  spread  his  doctrines;  he  declared  war,  made 
treaties  and  broke  them,  encouraged  assassina- 
tions, and  ordered  general  massacres  on  the  as- 
sumal  authority  of  a  revelation  from  God.  In 
his  private  life  he  gave  way  to  his  baser  passions 
and  answered  criticism  by  pretended  revelations 
from  heaven.  There  can  be  no  question  but  that 
during  his  last  years  he  became  corrupt,  vindic- 
tive, and  cruel. 

The  Mohammedan  systan  has  in  it  some 
truth,  but  it  is  mixed  with  much  that  is  base  and 
corrupt.  They  believe  in  one  God,  and  are  bit- 
ter opponents  of  all  forms  of  idolatry.  They  re- 
ject the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  but  admit  that 
16 


242       Twe;nty-one;  Years  in  India. 

our  Lord  was  a  prophet.  They  deny  that  he  was 
put  to  death  on  the  cross.  They  have  no  atone- 
ment, they  beheve  in  a  heaven  of  vohiptuous  and 
sensual  joys,  and  in  a  hell  for  all  infidels.  They 
believe  in  angels  good  and  bad,  and  are  great 
fatalists.  They  admit  the  Divine  origin  of  our 
Holy  Scriptures,  but  say  we  have  corrupted  them. 

The  Moslems  of  India  are  in  most  respects  in 
advance  of  those  in  most,  if  not  all,  other  coun- 
tries. This  is  owing  to  their  close  contact  with 
Christianity  in  India.  The  Government  is  Chris- 
tian, and  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  has  been  open 
to  missionary  effort. 

Every  missionary  in  Upper  India  comes  di- 
rectly in  contact  with  them  while  pursuing  his 
work.  In  the  cities  they  form  a  part  of  every  con- 
gregation he  addresses.  A  portion  of  the  scholars 
in  every  mission  school  are  from  this  class  of 
people.  They  have  come  in  close  contact  with 
all  our  evangelizing  methods  for  many  years,  and 
it  has  had  its  influence  upon  them.  They  were 
quick  to  see  that  they  must  avail  themselves  of  the 
advantages  of  education  offered  by  Government 


TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia.  243 


and  by  missionaries,  or  they  would  be  left  behind 
by  their  Hindu  neighbors  in  securing  positions 
of  honor  and  emolument  offered  by  Government, 
and  by  business  establishments  in  the  present  day. 
They  saw  that  they  must  not  depend  upon  their 
system  of  education  in  Arabic  and  Persian  and 
the  Koran,  but  that  they  must  acquire  the  English 
language,  and  become  acquainted  with  geography, 
history,  and  mathematics,  if  they  would  anything 
like  hold  their  own.  The  consequence  is  that  we 
have  a  constantly  growing  class  of  educated  and 
advanced  men  who  are  not  satisfied  with  the  old 
order  of  things.  They  see  the  great  disadvantage 
at  which  the  doctrines  of  Islam  appear,  placed 
alongside  the  teachings  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  and 
they  are  beginning  to  demand  reforms.  They 
are  coming  to  understand  that  their  polygamy, 
concubinage,  and  seclusion  of  women  must  be 
abandoned.  Great  changes  are  evidently  passing 
over  the  Moslem  population  of  India.  They  are 
investigating  the  grounds  of  their  faith  in 
the  Koran  and  the  general  teachings  of  Mo- 
hammed with  a  thoroughness  and  fairness  never 


244       TwENTY-OND  Years  in  India. 

shown  before.  They  are  considering  the  claims 
of  Christianity  in  a  far  better  spirit  than  they 
have  shown  in  former  days.  The  work  among 
them  in  India  is  very  hopeful  of  great  results  in 
the  near  future.  A  fair  proportion  of  converts  in 
our  native  Christian  Church  have  come  from 
among  the  Mohammedan  population.  A  consid- 
erable number  of  the  very  ablest  ministers  in  the 
native  Church  have  come  from  these  people. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Again  Pastor  of  the  Naini  Tal  Church. 

In  1894  I  again  went  out  to  India,  after  an 
absence  of  ten  years,  and  much  to  my  surprise  was 
appointed  to  Naini  Tal.  Dr.  Waugh  had  beai  in 
charge  of  the  native  work  and  was  now  desiring 
to  return  home  on  leave,  so  I  took  over  charge  of 
the  native  work  from  hirri,  and  at  the  same  time 
I  was  to  relieve  Mr.  Stuntz  of  the  care  of  the 
English  Church.  Air.  Stuntz  was  principal  of 
Oak  Openings  Boys'  High  School,  and  the  care 
of  this  institution  taxed  him  to  the  utmost,  and 
he  felt  that  he  must  be  relieved  of  a  portion  of 
his  work.  Immediately  after  Conference  he  was 
taken  ill,  which  proved  so  serious  that  he  was 
obliged  to  return  to  the  United  States.  I  had  ex- 
pected to  have  his  assistance  in  conducting  the 
services  of  the  English  Church,  but  now  the  whole 
of  it  fell  on  me.   I  was  much  disappointed  in  this, 

245 


246       Twknty-one;  Years  in  India. 

as  I  had  anticipated  great  pleasure  in  being  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  this  work. 

I  now  propose  to  explain,  as  well  as  I  can,  the 
exact  sitviation  of  this  department  of  our  work. 
It  is  not  easy  for  people  here  at  home  to  under- 
stand just  the  condition  in  India,  particularly  in 
regard  to  English  work,  and  not  the  interest  is 
felt  in  it,  it  has  seemed  to  me,  that  its  impor- 
tance demands.  It  was  now  ten  years  since  I  made 
over  charge  of  this  Church  to  the  Rev.  James 
Baume,  who  came  out  to  relieve  me  so  that  I 
might  enter  native  work.  Of  course,  in  this 
period,  many  changes  had  taken  place.  Sir  Henry 
Ramsay  had  retired  and  returned  to  England  and 
had  passed  away.  Mr.  MacDonald  had  died. 
James  Eraser  had  gone  to  New  Zealand.  Many 
others  had  died  or  gone  home  to  England.  Most 
Europeans  in  our  part  of  India  are  in  Govern- 
ment service  in  one  form  or  another.  The  regu- 
lations of  the  service  require  them  to  retire  at  a 
comparatively  early  age,  when  they  usually  re- 
turn to  England  to  spend  their  declining  years. 
Very  few  indeed  make  India  their  home  after 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  247 

their  term  of  service  has  ended.  This  makes  Eng- 
lish society  very  changeable,  especially  in  a  place 
like  Naini  Tal.  This  being  a  summer  resort,  peo- 
ple were  coming  and  going  continually ;  our  con- 
gregation not  only  changed  from  year  to  year, 
but  it  changed  a  good  deal  in  course  of  a  single 
season.  We  would  have  many  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  season  that  we  did  not  have  during 
the  first  part  of  it,  and  some  that  we  had  at  the 
beginning  we  would  not  have  at  its  close.  The 
Government  allows  a  month  of  leave  a  year  to 
most  in  its  service.  This  may  be  saved  up,  and 
three  months  taken  every  third  year.  Many  do 
this  way,  and  so  have  three  months  in  the  hills 
at  a  time.  This,  some  take  the  first  half  of  the 
hot  season,  others  take  the  last  half;  the  hot  sea- 
son continues  about  six  months.  So  the  congre- 
gation changes  a  good  deal  about  the  middle  of 
the  hot  season.  This  feature  of  our  English  work 
has  its  disadvantages,  of  course,  but  the  circum- 
stances are  peculiar  in  India,  and  these  must  be 
considered.  I  have  always  felt  it  to  be  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  keep  a  warm  religious  at- 


248       TwKNTy-ONE  Yj;ars  in  India. 

mosphere  at  a  great  center  of  influence  like  Naini 
Tal.  People  would  come  from  distant  and  iso- 
lated places,  where  for  many  months  at  a  time 
they  would  have  no  religious  privileges  whatever, 
so  far  as  Church  going  is  concerned.  In  some 
cases  people  so  situated  would  become  indifferent 
as  regards  Church  going,  but  generally  English 
people  are  pleased  to  attend  Church  when  such 
privileges  are  afforded  them.  Many  who  are  se- 
cluded feel  it  very  much,  and  long  to  hear  God's 
Holy  Word  preached.  In  all  the  years  I  have 
had  charge  of  our  English  Church  in  Naini  Tal, 
I  have  tried  to  make  our  services  helpful  to  all, 
not  by  any  means  forgetting  these  cases.  I  have 
often  had  assurances  of  appreciation  of  our  serv- 
ices by  those  who  were  far  away,  and  many  years 
afterward.  A  Christian  man's  influence  in  India 
is  multiplied  sevenfold  beyond  what  it  is  at  home, 
under  all  ordinary  circumstances.  So  it  may  be 
seen  how  important  it  is  that  those  who  bear  the 
name  of  Christ  should  be  Christians  indeed.  The 
sentiment  expressed  in  Charles  Wesley's  hymn 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 


249 


No.  805,  in  our  Hymnal,  has  a  meaning  in  India 
that  to  me  it  has  never  had  elsewhere. 

"We  for  Christ  our  Master  stand 
Lights  in  a  benighted  land: 
We  our  dying  Lord  confess ; 
We  are  Jesus'  witnesses." 

It  is  this  that  makes  our  English  work  in  a 
place  like  Naini  Tal  so  very  important;  it  reacts 
with  such  peculiar  force  upon  our  native  work. 
Every  European  life  in  India  is  a  power  for  good 
or  evil  in  influence.upon  the  natives.  This  is  one 
of  the  great  obstacles  in  our  way  that  does  much 
to  hinder  the  progress  of  the  work — the  irrelig- 
ious lives  of  many  Europeans — the  people  see. 

A  few  years  ago  the  headquarters  of  the  Ben- 
gal army  were  located  at  Xaini  Tal.  This  brought 
c|uite  a  considerable  number  of  superior  young 
men  to  Naini  Tal  as  permanent  residents,  who 
were  employed  in  the  various  offices.  Many  of 
these  are  members  of  our  congregation.  There 
are  a  few  soldiers  every  year  in  the  place  who 
choose  our  Church  as  their  place  of  worship.  For 


250       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

each  of  these  the  Government  pays  into  the  funds 
of  the  Church  one  rupee  a  month.  There  are  a 
number  of  famiHes  engaged  in  business  who  come 
up  regularly  every  season  and  carry  on  their  busi- 
ness in  Naini  Tal  during  the  hot  weather,  and  go 
to  some  station  in  the  plains  for  the  same  pur- 
pose during  the  cold  season.  These  families  come 
to  Naini  Tal  early  in  April,  and  go  down  to  the 
plains  in  October.  There  are  a  few  families  who 
live  permanently  at  Naini  Tal.  Then  we  have 
our  boarding-schools,  Wellesley  for  girls,  and 
Oak  Openings  for  boys.  These,  with  the  teach- 
ers, attend  one  of  the  services  at  the  church  on 
Sunday.  The  evening  service  at  five  o'clock  is 
most  largely  attended.  Our  church  seats  about 
three  hundred,  and  dui  ing  the  season  it  is  well 
filled  at  the  evening  service,  and  a  more  inspiring 
congregation  it  has  never  been  my  privilege  to 
preach  to.  Many  missionaries  are  with  us  from 
time  to  time  for  a  few  weeks  during  the  season, 
from  almost  every  part  of  India.  I  have  at  dif- 
ferent times  spent  about  sixteen  years  in  Naini 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  251 


Tal ;  for  fourteen  years  I  have  had  charge  of  the 
EngHsh  congregation.  It  has  always  been  a  de- 
hght  to  serve  this  Church.  In  a  pastorate  ex- 
tending over  many  years  at  home  and  abroad,  I 
can  say  that  my  last  term  of  five  years  with  this 
congregation  was  the  most  delightful  of  my  life. 
The  most  perfect  harmony  prevailed,  and  a  spirit 
of  enthusiasm  in  work  for  Christ  that  was  most 
encouraging  and  inspiring.  It  was  our  custom 
to  observe  the  first  week  in  June  as  a  season  for 
special  revival  services,  and  we  often  had  seasons 
of  great  refreshing.  In  one  of  these  seasons  sixty 
or  more  of  our  young  people  started  in  the  service 
of  Christ.  The  memory  of  those  dear  people  will 
ever  remain  with  me,  and  1  shall  never  cease  to 
pray  that  from  among  them  some  may  arise  who 
will  go  forth  as  apostles  to  India's  unsaved  mill- 
ions. 

I  have  spoken  of  our  schools  in  a  former  chap- 
ter, and  have  tried  to  show  their  importance  to 
our  work.  This  I  am  sure  can  not  be  overesti- 
mated.  These  young  people  are  sure  to  occupy 


252       TwENfY-ONi:  Years  in  India. 


positions  of  responsibility  in  the  future  where 
they  can  do  much  to  help  the  cause  of  Christ,  if 
they  become  earnest  living  Christians.  I  hope  to 
furnish  some  illustrations  showing  the  fine  school 
buildings  of  Wellesley.  Through  Miss  Easton's 
able  management  the  whole  magnificent  school 
property  is  clear  of  debt.  It  is  in  every  way  thor- 
oughly well  equipped  for  school  purposes.  Two 
valuable  dwelling  houses  are  owned  by  the  school, 
outside,  for  rental ;  these  are  free  of  debt  and  form 
a  basis  for  an  endowment  fund.  In  addition  they 
have  a  beautiful  property  about  fifteen  miles  away 
down  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  for  a  winter 
home,  and  that  furnishes  fruit  and  vegetables  for 
the  use  of  the  school.  This  school  has  a  truly 
magnificent  property,  and  no  school  in  India 
stands  higher  educationally.  Oak  Openings,  too, 
has  a  bright  future  before  it  under  the  vigorous 
management  of  Dr.  J.  C.  Butcher.  Rev.  Mr. 
Craven,  now  of  Evanston,  111.,  built  a  fine  busi- 
ness block,  which  he  designed,  when  paid  for,  to 
form  an  endowment  for  Oak  Openings  School. 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  253 


While  I  was  there  we  formed  a  company,  took 
over  the  building  with  its  debts,  and  are  now  try- 
ing to  pay  for  it.  When  once  this  is  done  and 
the  debt  removed  from  the  Oak  Openings  estate, 
the  school  will  be  put  on  a  splendid  footing.  If 
some  one  could  be  found  who  would  give  them 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  I  can  think  of  no  place 
where  this  amount  of  money  could  be  put  that 
would  be  sure  of  yielding  so  large  a  return  in 
the  way  of  good. 

In  the  first  illustration  may  be  seen  our  com- 
modious school  building,  with  its  fine  tower  and 
clock,  for  native  boys.  This  was  built  by  Mr. 
Craven  also,  and  is  a  worthy  monument  of  his  wis- 
dom and  energy.  This  is  the  oldest  school  in  our 
entire  mission,  and  has  done  a  grand  work  for  the 
native  community  of  Naini  Tal.  There  are  but 
few  of  the  permanent  residents  who  have  not  at 
some  time  been  pupils  in  this  school,  and  they  are 
generally  firm  friends  of  the  Mission,  and  very 
favorably  disposed  towards  Christianity.  I  firmly 
believe  the  time  will  come  when  much  fruit  will 


254       Twe;nty-one;  Years  in  India. 

be  gathered  from  the  seed  sown  through  this 
school.  The  services  of  the  native  Church  are 
held  in  the  old  Church,  or  Mission  Chapel,  the 
first  one  built  by  us  in  India.  This  Church  has 
a  pastor  of  its  own,  a  fine  Sunday-school,  and  a 
good  congregation  during  the  season. 

In  these  days  there  does  not  seem  to  be  as 
much  done  in  direct  evangelistic  work  among 
heathen  natives  as  there  was  years  ago.  At  that 
time  the  number  of  native  Christians  was  small, 
but  now,  as  it  has  increased,  it  has  brought  special 
cares  along  with  it,  so  that  the  time  of  the  work- 
ers has  been  largely  taken  up  with  caring  for 
those  who  have  become  Christians  or  are  desiring 
to  become  such.  It  is  very  manifest  that  God  is 
ready  to  give  us  the  people  as  fast  as  we  are  able 
to  care  for  them.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  that 
those  who  are  received  into  the  Church  should 
be  instructed,  otherwise  the  Church  of  the  future 
will  be  but  little  better  than  the  heathen  them- 
selves. This  is  a  burning  question  at  the  present 
time  in  our  work  in  India.    It  is  claimed  that 


TwENTY-OND  Years  in  India.  255 


more  than  a  hundred  thousand  people  are  ask- 
ing admission  into  the  Christian  Church  in  India 
at  the  present  time.  Can  we  imagine  what  that 
means — the  responsibihty  it  carries  with  it?  We 
may  put  these  people  off  for  a  time,  but  it  is  at- 
tended with  much  risk  to  our  work  to  do  this. 

The  curtailment  of  our  work  from  year  to 
year  for  some  years  past  has  been  attended  with 
many  unhappy  consequences,  and  has  caused 
much  embarrassment.  We  decline  to  baptize  peo- 
ple because  we  can  not  provide  teachers  for  them. 
It  is  hardly  possible  for  them  to  comprehend  this. 
They  see  how  we  dress  and  live,  and  not  unnat- 
urally they  think  we  can  do  anything  we  desire  to 
do.  It  is  not  strange  they  come  to  think  that  we 
do  not  care  for  them,  and  if  their  patience  is  taxed 
too  long  they  may  turn  against  us  and  hinder 
others  from  coming  to  us.  I  am  thankful  to  say 
that  our  prospects  are  brightening  in  the  field. 
The  increase  of  our  funds  last  year,  and  a  pros- 
pect of  a  larger  increase  this  year,  are  inspiring 
hope  in  the  minds  of  our  missionaries.   I  can  re- 


256       Twi;nty-one  Years  in  India. 


member  when  every  door  seemed  closed  against 
us,  and  how  hard  we  labored  to  open  them ;  now 
it  seems  every  door  is  open,  and  we  are  entreated 
to  enter,  but  we  dare  not  for  lack  of  funds  to  sus- 
tain the  work. 

The  period  of  my  service  extends  through 
forty-three  years,  from  1857  to  1900.  This  is 
di\  ided  into  nearly  equal  parts  between  my  home 
Conference  and  India.  That  my  service  in  the 
Mission  should  have  been  so  broken  in  upon  is  a 
matter  of  much  regret ;  but  unavoidable  circum- 
stances seemed  to  make  it  necessary. 

In  all  my  absence  from  the  field  I  was  not  an 
occasion  of  expense  to  the  Missionary  Society; 
but  for  one  year. 

I  spent  twenty-one  years  in  India.  Counting 
journeyings  to  and  from,  and  furloughs  allowed, 
my  service  would  count  much  more. 

Age  and  broken  health  seemed  now  to  make  it 
best  for  me  to  return  home,  and  after  forty-nine 
years  in  the  active  ministry,  at  home  and  abroad, 
to  seek  to  be  relieved  from  the  duties  of  the  effect- 
ive relation. 


TwENTY-oxE  Years  ix  India. 


257 


I  have  had  many  regrets  since  returning  in 
1900  that  I  did  not  arrange  to  spend  my  declin- 
ing years  in  India.  I  might  have  done  much  to 
aid  the  work  in  many  ways,  I  think,  even  though 
I  could  not  have  done  full  work. 

I  desire  to  express  the  deep  sense  of  gratitude 
I  shall  ever  cherish  to  our  Missionary  Board,  and 
to  the  Secretaries,  for  the  many  kindnesses  re- 
ceived during  the  years  of  my  connection  with 
them. 


17 


CHAPTER  XVL 

A  Call  to  This  Work. 

I  AM  not  quite  willing  to  conclude  this  account 
of  my  personal  connection  with  this  great  work 
without  a  few  words  to  young  people  who  are 
contemplating  the  possibility  of  engaging  in  this 
work.  I  regard  it  the  greatest  and  most  glorious 
work  to  which  young  men  and  women  can  conse- 
crate their  lives.  The  call  has  never  been  more 
urgent  than  now.  Hundreds  will  be  sent  out  in 
the  near  future  where  scores  only  have  hitherto 
been  sent.  The  world  is  not  yet  won  for  Christ, 
though  much  has  been  done  and  great  achieve- 
ments realized ;  but  yet  much  remains  to  be  done. 
In  fact,  the  work  is  but  little  more  than  fairly 
begun. 

The  Madras  Missionary  Conference,  in  April 
last,  made  the  statement  that  at  present  tliere  is 
in  India  only  one  missionary  to  every  150,000 
258 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  259 

people,  and  it  is  urged  that  the  number  be  in- 
creased so  that  there  may  be  at  least  one  mission- 
ary to  every  50,000.  This  would  require  that 
twice  as  many  be  sent  out  as  there  are  are  now 
in  India. 

Closely  connected  with  the  subject  of  a  call  to 
this  work,  is  that  of  obligation  to  give  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature.  Christ  said,  "Go  ye  therefore, 
and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit; 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I 
command  you ;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

It  would  seem  that  this  must  settle  the  ques- 
tion of  obligation  in  the  mind  of  every  loyal  dis- 
ciple of  Christ.  The  command  is  too  clear  to 
admit  of  any  doubt.  No  conditions  are  inter- 
posed ;  it  is  not,  Go  if  convenient,  if  you  feel  dis- 
posed to  go,  or  if  everything  favors.  Nor  does 
He  say,  Go  if  you  are  wanted,  if  the  people  invite 
you  and  are  waiting  to  receive  your  message ; 
but  because  they  need  the  Gospel  and  Christ  bids 
you  carry  it  to  them  in  all  haste.   The  command 


26o       TwSNTY-oxE  Years  IN  India. 

is  general,  and  is  binding  upon  all.  All  may  do 
something  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and 
obligation  is  equal  to  ability. 

The  fact  that  we  can  not  do  as  much  as  some 
others  is  no  reason  for  not  doing  what  we  can. 
The  little  we  can  do  is  important  and  essential, 
as  well  as  the  greater  things  others  may  do. 
Whatever  we  do  for  Christ  in  the  true  spirit  of  a 
disciple,  be  it  little  or  much,  will  be  accepted  and 
will  not  fail  of  its  reward.  Xot  every  one  can 
go  in  person,  but  we  can  go  or  help  others  to  go. 
Christ  was  himself  a  missionary.  His  Church 
must  be  a  missionary  Church  to  the  end  of  time. 
It  has  been  successful  in  the  past  only  as  the  mis- 
sionary fire  has  glowed  upon  its  altars;  it  will 
only  be  so  in  the  future  as  this  condition  is  ob- 
served. There  is  such  a  thing  as  apostolic  suc- 
cession. The  true  succession  is  in  the  spirit,  not 
in  the  letter.  It  was  made  solemnly  binding  upon 
the  apostles  and  their  successors  to  the  end  of 
time  to  give  the  Gospel  to  every  creature. 

So  long  as  there  is  one  human  being  in  any 
place  on  this  wide  earth  that  has  not  heard  the 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  261 


glad  tidings  of  salvation,  this  obligation  will  con- 
tinue binding  upon  us  as  the  disciples  of  Christ. 
We  live  in  a  grand  time — the  best  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  More  has  been  done  for  the  spread 
of  the  Gospel  during  the  centur}'  just  past  than 
in  the  whole  Christian  era  before  it ;  and  who  can 
doubt  that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  far  greater 
things  than  ever  before  witnessed  ?  The  world  is 
being  stirred  as  never  before.  It  may  be  in  oppo- 
sition, as  seemed  to  be  the  case  a  little  while  ago 
in  China,  but  be  it  so ;  this  is  better  than  apathy, 
though  it  is  now  generally  believed  that  this  re- 
cent outburst  of  wrath  was  rather  anti-foreigner 
than  anti-Christian.  Such  seasons  of  seeming 
defeat  indicate  that  great  triumphs  are  near  at 
hand.  It  was  so  with  the  great  sepoy  mutiny  in 
India  in  1857,  when  it  seemed  that  everything 
belonging  to  Christianity  must  inevitably  be  swept 
away,  but  it  was  not.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  end 
it  put  the  country  far  ahead,  and  Christianity  took 
a  firmer  hold  and  progressed  as  it  otherwise  would 
not  have  done.  It  will  be  so  in  China.  I  may  say 
rather,  it  is  already  evidently  so.    These  convul- 


262       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

sions  are  but  the  birth  pangs  of  a  new  and  better 
era  for  the  world  and  for  the  cause  of  Christ. 
The  blood  of  the  martyrs  has  been  in  every  age 
the  seed  of  the  Church.  God  rules,  and  persecu- 
tions and  wars  are  overruled  for  the  furtherance 
of  righteousness  in  the  world.  It  would  be  a  mis- 
take for  any  one  to  go  out  without  a  conviction 
that  he  is  really  called  to  this  work,  as  such  a 
conviction  is  necessary  to  sustain  one  in  it.  Some 
may  say  it  is  a  question  of  expediency,  or  prefer- 
ence, only.  Some  say  this  in  regard  to  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  but  it  is  a  low  view  to  take  of  it. 
We  believe  the  Lord  chooses  his  ministers,  and 
lays  upon  them  the  obligation  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel. The  necessity  is  laid  upon  them,  and  they 
are  made  to  feel  that  they  must  go  for- 
ward in  this  work.  The  call  to  be  a 
missionary  may  not  be  just  like  a  call  to  the 
sacred  ministry  in  all  of  its  aspects,  but  it  is 
similar  in  some  of  its  features  at  least.  In  a 
sense  it  is  true  that  God  calls  us  to  every  kind  of 
work  in  his  vineyard.  "The  steps  of  a  good  man 
are  ordered  of  the  Lord."   "And  thine  ears  shall 


TwExTY-oxE  Years  ix  India.  263 


hear  a  word  behind  thee  saying.  This  is  the  way. 
walk  ye  in  it,  when  ye  tuni  to  the  right  or  to  the 
left."  (Isa.  XXX,  21.)  Certainly  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  there  would  be  a  somewhat  special 
call  to  a  great  special  ser\-ice  like  this.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  I  have  never  known  a  successful  mis- 
sionary who  did  not  feel  that  God  as  certainly 
called  him  to  this  work  as  he  did  to  the  ministr)'. 
The  impression  will  be  made  upon  the  mind  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  some  way  that  we  are  called  to  it. 
This  impression  will  be  so  strong,  as  a  rule,  that 
it  can  not  well  be  removed.  I  firmly  believe  God 
as  certainly  calls  women  to  this  work  as  he  does 
men.  It  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  age  what 
women  are  doing  for  Christ.  In  addition  to  the 
impression  made  upon  the  mind,  other  things 
must  confirm  and  sustain  it.  There  must  be  good 
firm  health,  with  no  special  tendency  to  disease 
of  any  kind.  One  must  have  good  natural  abil- 
ities and  at  least  fair  attainments.  I  think  special 
stress  should  be  laid  upon  the  importance  of  good 
judgment  and  tact,  ability  to  master  foreign  lan- 
guages, and  to  utilize  strange  environments.  The 


264       Twenty-one:  Years  in  India. 

importance  of  these  things  can  not  be  overesti- 
mated. One  must  know  human  nature,  and  how 
to  adapt  one's  self  to  it.  We  must  know  the  peo- 
ple to  whom  we  go,  have  sympathy  with  them, 
appreciate  their  feelings  and  difficulties,  and  be 
able  to  see  things  as  they  see  them.  We  can  never 
win  the  people  to  Christ  only  as  we  win  them  to 
ourselves  first,  and  to  this  end  we  must  gain  their 
confidence,  and  we  can  only  do  this  by  convincing 
them  that  we  know  how  things  appear  to  them. 
Knowledge  of  human  nature,  sanctified  common 
sense,  are  indispensable  qualities  to  make  a  suc- 
cessful missionar}'.  The  highest  literary  attain- 
ments, while  not  absolutely  necessary  in  every 
case,  will  find  ample  scope  for  their  fullest  exer- 
cise. It  will  be  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  any 
one  going  out  to  India  particularly,  to  have  spent 
some  time  with  one  who  has  had  experience  in 
the  field.  It  would  save  him  from  many  mis- 
takes and  mortifications.  I  think  it  is  a  mistake 
to  send  young  people  out,  in  these  days,  ignorant 
of  ever\-thing  they  need  to  know  about  the  coun- 
tries and  people  to  which  they  go.    It  would  be 


Twenty-one;  Years  in  India.  265 


better  for  them  to  have  a  year  or  two  for  special 
study  of  the  languages,  history,  customs,  and 
habits  of  the  people  to  which  they  go.  There  are 
facilities  now  for  preparation  of  this  kind  which 
we  did  not  have  in  former  days.  There  are  ex- 
cellent institutions  now  for  such  study,  where 
every  facility  is  offered  young  people  in  this  spe- 
cial line. 

Some  think  it  better  not  to  begin  the  study  of 
the  language  until  arriving  upon  the  ground,  but 
I  think  it  is  wise  to  begin  at  once,  if  possible; 
study  anything  and  everything  that  will  be  likely 
to  increase  one's  efficiency  in  the  work.  Many 
years  ago,  Dr.  Durbin  sent  to  me,  to  study  the 
language  while  waiting,  a  young  man  who  was 
under  appointment  to  India,  but  could  not  leave 
for  his  field  for  some  months.  It  so  happened  that 
some  months  later  we  went  out  to  India  together. 
We  went  the  long  route  around  the  Cape,  and 
when  we  arrived  in  India,  to  his  great  delight,  he 
found  he  was  ready  to  enter  upon  active  work, 
greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  Mission  at  the 
time.    This  was  Dr.  Hoskins,  who,  after  almost 


266       TwENTY-ON^  Years  in  India. 


twoscore  years  of  remarkable,  useful,  and  suc- 
cessful work  for  Christ  in  Cawnpore,  suddenly 
passed  from  his  work  on  earth  to  his  reward  in 
heaven,  a  few  months  ago. 

It  is  taken  for  granted  that  a  missionary  must 
have  grace,  a  passion  for  souls,  with  supreme  loy- 
alty to  God  and  the  Church  that  sends  him  out. 
Without  these  qualities  he  will  fail,  whatever 
other  attainments  he  may  have.  What  a  glorious 
opportunity  presents  itself  to  truly  consecrated 
young  people,  well  equipped  for  the  work.  O, 
may  a  great  army  of  such  be  raised  up  and  thrust 
out  into  the  field  already  white  to  the  harvest ! 

I  will  only  add  a  few  words  as  to  my  own 
personal  call  to  this  work.  My  first  distinct  im- 
pression of  a  personal  call  to  missionary  work 
abroad  was  received  in  a  missionary  meeting  held 
in  Lawrenceville,  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y..  an 
appointment  on  my  first  charge.  It  was  on  Sun- 
day evening.  Rev.  Thomas  Richey,  who  was  a 
pastor  of  an  adjoining  charge,  had  come  to  assist 
me,  and  had  just  closed  a  very  stirring  address, 
when  the  choir  sang  the  hymn  beginning, 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  267 

"  Ye  Christian  heralds,  go,  proclaim 
Salvation  in  Immanuel's  name ; 
To  distant  climes  the  tidings  bear, 
And  plant  the  Rose  of  Sharon  there." 

While  singing  tliis  verse  it  suddenly  flashed 
over  me  that  this  was  in  some  special  way  de- 
signed for  me,  and  that  I  would  have  some  part 
to  take  in  this  great  work.  The  thought  appalled 
me,  and  I  began  to  think  of  difficulties  and  dan- 
gers to  be  encountered,  and  to  say,  "Impossible !  I 
am  not  good  enough  or  brave  enough  for  such  a 
great  and  glorious  work."  Then  followed  these 
words : 

"  He  '11  shield  you  with  a  wall  of  fire. 
Your  heart  with  holy  zeal  inspire ; 
Bid  raging  winds  their  fury  cease, 
And  calm  the  savage  breast  to  peace." 

I  then  and  there  surrendered  myself  to  God 
for  this  service.  From  that  time  I  had  no  doubt 
but  that  God  had  chosen  me  for  this  work,  and 
that  in  due  time  the  way  would  be  opened.  Three 
years  later  the  call  came  from  Dr.  Durbin  for  two 
young  men  for  India.  I  responded  to  the  call. 
If  I  had  a  hundred  lives  I  would  gladly  gis'e  them 
all  for  that  beautiful  but  dark  land. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


The  Progress  of  Missionary  Work  in  India. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  Apostle  Thomas  visited 
India  to  communicate  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  to  the  people  of  that  country.  This,  how- 
ever, is  not  well  authenticated.  A  missionary 
named  Thomas  lived  and  labored  in  some  parts 
of  Southern  India  some  centuries  later,  who  is 
said  to  have  suffered  martyrdom  at  St.  Thome,  a 
suburb  of  Madras.  It  seems  probable  that  these 
have  been  confounded. 

The  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  in  response  to  an 

appeal  from  India,  sent  out  the  learned  Pantasnus 

in  about  i8o  A.  D.   It  is  not  known  how  long  he 

remained,  nor  with  what  success  he  met,  but  he 

suffered  martyrdom  in  Alexandria  in  211,  and  we 

are  told  that  after  his  return  he  presided  over 

the  School  of  Catechists,  which  he  left  when  he 

went  out.    It  is  probable  therefore  that  he  did 

368 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  269 


not  remain  very  long,  and  that  no  very  marked 
results  followed  his  labors  there. 

About  a  century  later  a  missionary  named 
Theophilus  visited  India,  where  he  tells  us  that  he 
found  Christianity  already  planted.  In  the  fifth 
century  missionaries  from  the  Syrian  Church 
came  to  India,  and  they  still  have  a  considerable 
number  of  Churches  and  adherents  on  the  south- 
west coast  of  India. 

Next  came  the  Portuguese,  or  Roman  Cath- 
olic missionaries,  who  located  on  the  southwest 
coast,  with  Goa  as  their  headquarters.  Francis 
Xavier  gave  these  missions  a  great  impulse  in 
1541.  His  zeal  and  piety  won  the  admiration  of 
all  in  a  most  corrupt  and  degenerate  age,  and  soon 
a  manifest  improvement  took  place  among  his 
own  countrymen  in  Goa,  to  whom  he  was  espe- 
cially sent.  But  he  longed  to  work  for  the  na- 
tives, and  so  had  the  Apostles'  Creed,  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  the  Ten  Commandments  translated 
into  the  vernacular,  and  learned  them  by  heart, 
and  then,  with  a  bell  in  his  hand,  he  went  through 
the  villages  repeating  what  he  had  learned.  His 


270       TwExTY-oxE  Years  in  India. 

words  and  gentle  ways  won  many  to  him,  and  a 
deep  impression  was  made.  The  people  of  India 
have  the  greatest  reverence  for  what  impresses 
them  as  a  holy  character,  and  gentleness  of  man- 
ner greatly  attracts  them.  He  wrote  in  his  diary 
at  this  time,  "It  often  happens  to  me  that  my 
hands  fail  through  the  fatigue  of  baptizing,  for 
I  have  baptized  a  whole  village  in  a  single  day." 
It  is  related  that  it  was  his  custom,  after  repeating 
anarticleof  theCreed  to  ask  them  if  they  believed : 
then,  on  their  assent,  he  baptized  them.  He  added, 
"Often  by  repeating  so  frequently  the  Creed  and 
other  things  my  voice  and  strength  have  failed 
me."  We  can  but  admire  the  zeal  and  devotion 
of  this  remarkable  man,  but  not  his  hasty  and  in- 
discriminate baptisms,  without  making  any  pro- 
vision for  the  instruction  of  those  he  baptized. 

It  is  claimed  that  Roman  Catholic  mission- 
aries traveled  extensively  through  the  country  in 
those  early  days.  It  is  said  that  one  of  the  wives 
of  the  Mogul  Emperor  Akhbar  was  a  Christian, 
and  that  he  invited  some  of  the  priests  from  Goa 
to  his  court,  and  took  great  interest  in  discussions 
between  them  and  the  Mohammedan  moulvies. 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  271 


The  first  Protestant  missions  were  begun  un- 
der the  auspices  of  the  king  of  Denmark.  In  1621 
the  Danes  obtained,  from  the  Rajah  of  Tanjore, 
Tranquebar,  and  the  country  contiguous  on  the 
southeastern  coast  of  India.  A  httle  later  Seram- 
pore  was  added  to  their  possessions.  In  1706 
two  devoted  German  Lutherans  were  sent  out  by 
the  king  of  Denmark,  or  under  his  patronage. 
These  were  Ziegenbalg  and  Plutschau,  who  were 
noble  and  most  devoted  missionaries,  and  consid- 
erable success  attended  their  labors.  A  few  years 
later  they  report  several  thousand  Christians.  In 
1750  Christian  Frederick  Schwarz  arrived  in  In- 
dia, certainly  one  of  the  noblest  missionaries  of 
modern  times.  He  was  revered  and  loved  by  all  he 
came  in  contact  with.  The  Rajahs  confided  in 
him  when  they  would  not  trust  others.  Even 
Hyder,  the  powerful  foe  of  the  English,  received 
Schwarz  with  distinguished  consideration,  and 
evidently  had  great  respect  for  his  character.  The 
common  people  trusted  him  when  they  would  not 
trust  their  rulers.  His  was  a  most  unselfish,  holy, 
and  beautiful  life,  and  most  strikingly  illustrates 


272       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

the  power  of  goodness  of  heart  and  life.  After 
forty-seven  years  of  loving  and  self-sacrificing 
toil  for  Christ  and  the  people  of  India,  alike  the 
much  loved  and  honored  friend  of  rich  and  poor, 
high  and  low,  he  passed  to  his  reward  with  these 
words  upon  his  lips :  "I  commend  my  spirit  into 
Thy  hands;  cleanse  and  adorn  it  with  the  right- 
eousness of  my  Redeemer,  and  receive  it  into  the 
arms  of  Thy  mercy." 

In  1792  the  English  Baptist  Missionary  So- 
ciety was  formed,  the  first  of  modern  times,  or  of 
all  time,  and  William  Carey  was  sent  out  as  their 
first  missionary,  and  India  was  chosen  as  their 
field. 

In  1793,  when  the  charter  of  the  East  India 
Company  came  up  for  renewal,  led  by  Wilber- 
force,  an  effort  was  made  to  insert  a  resolution 
permitting  missionaries  to  live  and  labor  in  India ; 
but  it  was  so  strongly  opposed  by  the  company 
and  its  partisans  that  it  failed.  Carey  went  out  in 
1793,  registering  as  an  indigo  planter  in  order 
to  gain  admission  to  the  country.  In  a  few  years 
Ward  and  Marshman  arrived,  and  Carey  joined 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  273 


them,  and,  with  the  permission  of  the  king  of  Den- 
mark, they  founded  a  mission  in  Serampore, 
which  has  become  historic  and  venerable  as  one 
of  the  early  landmarks  of  the  great  missionary 
enterprise  of  modern  times.  They  translated  the 
Bible  into  many  different  languages;  they  under- 
took to  translate  it  into  some  of  the  languages  of 
China  even.  They  opened  schools  and  founded 
a  college,  and  did  a  vast  amount  of  work,  by  which 
they  largely  supported  themselves.  They  lived 
as  one  family  and  put  their  earnings  into  their 
work.  They  merely  allowed  themselves  a  small 
personal  allowance  over  and  above  the  cost  of 
their  table  expenses.  This  was  for  their  clothes, 
and  it  may  be  interesting  to  know  just  how  much 
they  allowed  themselves  for  this  purpose.  Mr. 
Ward's  allowance  was  rupees  20  per  mensem, 
which  was  equal  to  about  $10  at  that  time.  Mr. 
Marshnian's  was  rupees  30.  Mr.  Carey's  was 
rupees  50  a  month,  as  he  was  professor  of  Sans- 
crit at  Fort  William,  and  had  to  dress  a  little 
better  than  others.      His  salary  received  from 

Government  was  rupees  1,200  per  month,  which 
18 


274       TwExTY-ONE  Years  ix  India. 

all  went  into  their  work,  with  the  exception  of 
the  personal  allowance  before  mentioned. 

William  Carey  died  on  the  9th  of  June,  1834, 
having  gained  high  honors  as  a  most  devoted  mis- 
sionary and  a  distinguished  Oriental  scholar,  hav- 
ing been  in  India  nearly  forty  years  without  hav- 
ing once  been  out  of  it. 

In  18 1 3  the  charter  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany \vzs  again  before  Parliament  for  renewal, 
and  under  the  pressure  of  public  opinion  the  coun- 
tr\-  was  thrown  open  to  free  and  unrestricted 
missionary  effort. 

The  London  Missionarj-  Society  sent  out  their 
first  missionary  in  1798.  The  Church  Mission- 
ary Society  began  its  work  about  the  same  time. 
The  American  Board  began  its  work  about  this 
time  or  in  1813. 

The  Church  of  Scotland  began  in  1830,  and 
sent  out  Rev.  Alexander  Duff  as  its  first  mission- 
ary. Dr.  Duff's  arrival  marks  an  important 
period  in  educational  work  in  India.  His  special 
work  was  to  establish  a  missionary  college.  At 
that  time  Sanscrit,   Persian,  and  Arabic  were 


Twenty-one  Years  ix  India.  275 


taught  in  Government  colleges  in  preference  to 
English.  Dr.  Duff  held  that  English  was  "the 
best  and  amplest  channel  for  speedily  letting  in 
the  full  stream  of  European  knowledge  on  the 
mind  of  those  who  were  destined  to  direct  the  na- 
tional intellect  and  heart  of  India." 

Dr.  Duff's  views  were  ably  supported  by  Mr. 
Macaulay,  then  legal  member  of  the  Governor- 
General's  Council.  They  were  adopted  by  Lord 
Bentinck  himself,  and  a  resolution  was  adopted  by 
Government  on  the  subject,  which  gave  a  great 
impulse  to  English  education.  The  effect  of  this 
movement  has  been  highly  beneficial.  Sanscrit 
contains  a  great  deal  that  is  false  and  demoraliz- 
ing in  its  influence.  Some  one  had  said,  "The 
more  it  is  studied  the  more  errors  are  acquired. 
Pundits  whose  knowledge  is  confined  to  Sans- 
crit are  learned  fools,  the  most  bigoted  portion  of 
the  people  and  the  greatest  opponents  of  reform." 

English  literature  is  by  no  means  without  de- 
fects, but  it  is  infinitely  better  than  the  best  to  be 
found  in  India.  The  importance  of  our  educa- 
tional work  may,  I  think,  be  seen  by  remember- 


276       Twenty-one  Years  in  India. 

ing  the  condition  of  Hindu  and  Mohammedan 
homes.  The  women  of  India  are  particularly 
superstitious  and  ignorant,  they  teach  their  chil- 
dren the  stories  of  their  gods  in  all  their  corrup- 
tion. Imagine  what  the  effect  must  be  upon  the 
mind  of  a  child, — no  moral  instruction  whatever, 
everything  corrupting  and  debasing.  Now  we 
get  these  children  into  our  schools  where  they 
are  taught  Christianity  with  its  elevating  and 
wholesome  moral  truths,  can  any  doubt  that 
the  effect  would  be  elevating  in  every  way  ?  Our 
schools  are  a  great  power  for  good,  far  greater 
than  one  can  imagine,  who  judges  by  common 
standards  known  to  us  in  this  country. 

I  desire  now  to  call  attention  to  what  has  been 
accomplished  that  may,  in  some  measure  at  least, 
be  tabulated  and  shown  by  statistics.  It  should 
not,  however,  be  forgotten,  that  there  must  be 
much  that  can  not  be  shown  by  figures. 

There  are  ordained  missionaries  in  India 
about  1,134;  the  wives  of  missionaries,  899;  other 
foreign  helpers,  mostly  ladies,  1,304;  thus  mak- 
ing a  total  of  3,337  foreign  missionaries.  Native 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  277 

ordained  pastors,  1,100;  native  catechists  and 
preachers,  7,i7<^.  The  native  force  in  India, 
male  and  female,  is  about  23,011.  At  the  close 
of  1900  there  were  5,362  organized  congrega- 
tions, 6,888  Sunday-schools  enrolling  274,402 
scholars.  There  are  8,285  day-schools  with  342,- 
114  scholars.  There  are  376  higher  schools  with 
24,255  students  in  them.  There  are  89  male  and 
III  female  physicians  in  India,  with  over  300 
hospitals  and  dispensaries,  and  treating  nearly  a 
million  and  a  quarter  patients  annually.  There 
are  nearly  three  millions  of  Christians  in  India  of 
all  classes.  Native  Christians,  2,664,313;  ten 
years  before  there  were  2,036,590,  showing  an  in- 
crease in  the  decade  of  627,-/ 2^.  In  1891  the 
Protestants  numbered  474,909.  In  1901  the  num- 
ber has  risen  to  865,985.  There  are  now  all  told 
2,923,241  Christians  in  India,  against  1,976,778 
ten  years  before,  showing  an  increase  during  the 
decade  of  946,463.  This  shows  remarkable  prog- 
ress. The  general  increase  of  the  whole  popula- 
tion from  1891  to  1901  was  2.4  per  cent.  The 
Mohammedans  increased  9  per  cent,  the  Roman 


278       TwDNTY-ONE  Years  in  India. 

Catholics  increased  16  per  cent,  while  the  Prot- 
estants increased  during  this  period  82  per  cent. 

The  Bible  has  been  published  in  all  the  more 
important  languages  and  in  many  of  the  dialects. 
A  vast  amount  of  Christian  literature  has  been 
published  and  is  being  circulated  among  the  peo- 
ple. There  is  a  large  educated  class  in  India, 
many  of  them  educated  in  mission  schools  and 
colleges,  who  know  a  great  deal  about  Chris- 
tianity and  are  now  being  drawn  towards  it.  The 
mass  of  the  people  know  much  more  about  Chris- 
tianity than  they  did  a  few  years  ago.  There  is 
a  manifest  improvement  in  the  morals  of  the  peo- 
ple. They  have  higher  conceptions  of  moral  truth 
than  they  did  years  ago.  There  is  not  as  much 
false  swearing  in  the  courts  as  there  used  to  be. 
The  people  seem  to  have  a  much  higher  concep- 
tion of  the  sacredness  of  an  oath  than  they  did 
in  former  years. 

The  Government  has  effected  many  important 
reforms.  Suttee,  the  burning  of  widows  with  the 
dead  body  of  their  husbands,  was  abolished  in 
1829,  when  Lord  Bentinck  was  Governor-General. 


TwEnTy-one  Years  in  India.  279 


Infanticide  and  human  sacrifices  hax  e  been  abol- 
ished, so  have  hook  swinging  and  many  other  cruel 
rites.  The  condition  of  woman  has  been  im- 
proved in  many  ways ;  widows  are  permitted  to 
remarry.  The  age  of  consent  has  been  raised  to 
twelve  years.  Caste  is  no  doubt  gradually  relax- 
ing its  hold  in  many  respects.  The  Brahmins  are 
losing  their  power  over  the  people,  and  the  belief 
is  becoming  more  or  less  general  that  the  country 
is  to  become  a  Christian  country.  The  masses 
are  more  favorably  disposed  towards  Christianity 
and  Christians  than  they  were  formerly.  There 
is  less  bitterness  manifest  in  these  days  when  a 
person  of  standing  becomes  a  Christian.  All 
these  things  are  signs  of  the  times,  and  portend  a 
brighter  and  happier  day  for  India.  Much,  how- 
ever, yet  remains  to  be  done.  There  is  a  vast  mass 
of  dark  and  cruel  heathenism  to  be  leavened  yet 
with  Gospel  truth. 

We  have,  as  a  Church,  five  publishing-houses, 
located  at  Lucknow,  Calcutta,  Madras,  Bombay, 
and  Singapore.    From  these  are  sent  out  a  vast 


28o  TVVEXTY-OXE  YeaRS  IN  InDIA. 

amount  of  literature  for  distribution  through  the 
country. 

Our  educational  system  is  thoroughly  organ- 
ized and  very  carefully  administered.  The  Theo- 
logical Seminar}'  located  at  Bareilly  for  the  edu- 
cation of  young  men  for  the  ministry.  This  is 
indeed  a  noble  institution,  which  has  grown  to  its 
present  proportions  under  the  wise  and  able  ad- 
ministration of  Dr.  T.  J.  Scott,  assisted  by  Dr. 
Dease  and  others.  For  many  years  Mrs.  Scott 
has  conducted  a  school  for  the  instruction  of  the 
wives  of  the  young  men  in  the  seminary,  so  that 
they  may  be  prepared  to  act  with  their  husbands 
as  helpers  in  the  work. 

We  have  the  Isabella  Thoburn  College  for 
}-oung  women  located  in  Lucknow,  and  Reid 
Christian  College  for  young  men.  Both  of  these 
are  institutions  giving  great  promise  of  future 
usefulness.  They  are  already  a  great  power  for 
good  in  the  country,  but  their  usefulness  will 
greatly  increase  as  tiie  years  go  by.  They  are 
splendid  institutions  and  have  a  great  future  be- 
fore them. 


TwDNTY-ONE  Years  in  India.  281 


The  work  of  the  Woman's  Missionary  So- 
ciety also  has  assumed  large  proportions  and  is 
admirably  administered  in  every  particular.  Their 
work  is  conducted  in  close  affinity  with  the  Parent 
Society,  and  yet  is  distinct.  They  have  their  Con- 
ference, and  their  workers  are  supervised  by  the 
presiding  elders  and  receive  their  appointments 
from  the  bishop  as  do  others.  The  system  is  in 
every  sense  admirable  and  works  smoothly.  Much 
is  due  for  our  excellent  system  to  Bishop  Tho- 
burn,  of  course,  and  to  Bishop  Parker  and  Miss 
Thoburn.  The  last  named  have  gone  to  their  re- 
ward, but  their  works  remain  to  the  great  advan- 
tage of  the  Mission  of  which  they  were  shining 
lights.  I  do  not  forget  that  others  now  living 
have  had  an  equally  honorable  part  in  adjusting 
these  great  interests.  I  greatly  admire  our  com- 
pact and  thoroughly  systematic  organization.  It 
was  mine  to  have  a  part  in  this  great  work  from 
the  very  beginning,  and  I  thank  God  that  it  is 
given  me  now  to  see  the  vast  proportions  to  which 
the  work  has  grown. 

Forty-five  years  ago  this  very  month  of  July 


282       TwEXTY-oxE  Years  ix  Ixdia. 

our  first  convert  was  baptized.  We  now  have  103 - 
364  communicants  and  a  Christian  community-  of 
146,547.  We  have  2,788  Simday-schools  with 
^^3J37  pupils  :  educational  institutions  of  all 
grades,  1,245,  with  35.438  scholars  in  attendance, 
with  a  total  of  4,320  Christian  workers.  W'e 
have  property  to  the  value  of  nearly  or  quite  two 
millions  of  dollars. 

If  we  could  comprehend  the  full  meaning  of 
these  statistics  it  would  fill  our  minds  with  grati- 
tude for  what  He  has  done  for  us.  But  statistics 
can  not  show  all  that  God  has  wrought.  They 
do  not  show  the  number  plucked  as  brands  from 
the  burning,  now  shining  among  the  angels  of 
God  in  heaven. 

Nearly  all  who  became  Christians  in  the  early 
years  of  our  Mission  are  now  gone.  Longevity 
with  them  is  not  equal  to  what  it  is  with  us.  It 
is  worth  something  to  feel  that  we  have  helped 
some  of  these  redeemed  souls  into  the  kingdom, 
and  started  them  on  their  shining  way.  I  hope 
to  meet  them  some  day,  a  goodly  throng,  and 
join  them  in  the  new  song  they  sing,  "Saying, 


Twenty-one  Years  in  India.  283 


Thou  art  worthy  to  take  the  Book  and  open  the 
seals  thereof;  for  Thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  re- 
deemed us  to  God  by  Thy  blood  out  of  every  kin- 
dred, and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation;  and 
hast  made  us  unto  our  God  kings  and  priests ;  and 
we  shall  reign  on  the  earth." 


  DATE  DUE 


